Her Heart's Kingdom
by MarXno
Summary: What would happen if a Kingdom Hearts fan fell into the game? Would she survive and become friends with her heros or make enemies? Is the Kingdom Hearts world all that it's cracked up to be? Follow Sam as she falls in love, learns to fight, ect.!
1. Prologue

Prologue

Sam held her nose as the school bus stopped next to her, its fumes making her head dizzy and eyes water. Shouldering her Kingdom Hearts back pack, she stepped onto the bus, finding her seat in the middle and quickly plopping down, so as not to draw attention to herself. Sliding over to look out the window, Sam placed her bag next to her, so no one could sit with her. No one tried to.

Halfway to school, finding it impossible to be away from it any longer, the blond haired teen unzipped her book bag and drew out her copy of Kingdom Hearts manga; #5 in the series. She stroked the cover before opening the book and burying her head into it, forgetting all the annoying kids around her on the smelly bus, or the horrible day that followed.

***

"Hey _Smelly_. Oh God, whatcha reading this time you loser?" Sam winced at the sound of the voice and sunk lower in her seat, KH manga still in her hand. It was just after lunch, the time in which Sam's language arts class was given half an hour of free time. Most of the kids talked to their friends about stupid things, like who kissed who, where, and how. Since Sam didn't have any friends in the class, she sat and read, naturally.

Looking up slowly, Sam winced yet again as she spotted Brea Clemnol and her small gang of giggly girls standing in front of her desk, glaring. She put down her book. "Can I help you?" Brea frowned and, without as much as a blink, reached out and snatched Sam's book, holding up for everyone to see. "Kingdom Hearts? What kind of book is _this_?" Roughly she opened the book to the middle and began to read. "What the hell Smelly, why doesn't' this make and sense? And who the hell is Sora?"

Sam smiled softly to herself. "It's not backwards, manga's read from right to left. And Sora is the main character, duh." Brea snorted. "_Loser_, is _this_ what you spend your time _doing_?" Sam reached up to snatch her book back, but Brea jerked her hand away. "Hell no, you're not getting this back, I think I'm gonna look this over for the night, find out how gay it really is." Sam turned red, "I swear to God Brea, if you don't freakin' give it back-"

"-You'll what? Beat me up…? Oh by the way, that's on my schedule for you today, so I'll see you after school in the back." Sam snorted. "You think I'm actually going to let you bet me up? I'm not stupid enough to go back there!" Brea grinned evilly. "Then I guess its bye, bye bookie, hm?"

***

"You _WHAT_?" Sam winced, not too surprised by her friend's reaction. "Taz, look, it sounds bad, but-"

"It sounds waaay worse the bad, Sammy!" Taz, Sam's best friend since they were third graders, looked around to make sure no one was near by. He reached up to run his hand through his black hair, styled in a very skater boy cut, due to the fact that his brother had come home with the new due from college and insisted he try it. Now the two walked side by side home, winter coats wrapped tightly around their cold bodies.

"Look, didn't I tell you not to call me-?"

"Sammy, I'm not gonna stop calling you by your rightful nickname just because fatty Brea calls you Smelly! She has the worst B.O. of all of them!" Sam gasped, "you think I stink?!"

"No! You're trying to change the subject! You _let_ her punch you in the face! Just so you could get your book back?!" Sam winced, it did sound a little worse than bad, now that she heard him say it aloud. "It's a new book!"

"That doesn't matter! Why didn't you fight? Or go buy a new book?"

Sam suddenly stopped and sank to the side walk, her knees trembling. Her cheek still hurt from where Brea had hit her. "I-I-I don't k-know Taz!" She cried, suddenly sobbing. Her friend, looking a little guilty, sunk down beside her and put his arm around her. "Hey, it's not the end of the world. Just, next time, please punch her back! Stand up for yourself, ya know?" Sam smiled weakly and punched Taz's arm playfully. "I'd rather use a keyblade to beat her ass." This made Taz chuckle. "C'mon, let's go play some KH and stop sitting in the cold!" Sam couldn't have agreed more.

**So this is my first fanfic, I hope you all enjoy it! I actually wrote the prologue just yesterday, the idea just seemed to be a really good one and I didn't want to forget it ('cause I forget everything =p). I picked the title **_**Her Heart's Kingdom**_** because Sam is basically like any other crazy Kingdom Hearts fan and her heart would be happiest if it were in the game close to favorite character's sides; it would be her [hearts] perfect kingdom. Yo'k, so, I DO NOT own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Sam and Taz (I could care less about Brea ^^). So that's about it! K, Peace. **

**~Marxno**


	2. Falling Forward

Falling Forward

Sam ran. She ran as fast as she could go. Behind her, she could hear the ragged breathing of her pursuers, their feat hitting the dirt road, their angry shouts. Her Kingdom Hearts bag thumped against her, her camera, still recording, clutched tightly in her hand. The woods around her slowly began to grow in number, until the road vanished from view and the trees surrounded her completely.

The voices were fading, growing smaller and smaller as Sam ran faster. She and Taz often would agree that she ran nowhere faster than in the woods, it was like she was a deer and everyone else was still clumsy humans. The path had long ago disappeared, and soon it was just Sam, all signs of pursuit gone.

Breathing heavily, she looked around her before leaning tiredly on a nearby tree. The forest was utterly silent, except for a twig snapping and the wind blowing. Blowing branches, dead leaves, making them move in an alarmingly loud way… Suddenly a fist slammed into her side, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to drop her camera. It landed on the ground with a _thunk. _Three girls were on top of her; kicking her, punching her, beating her up. All Sam could think to do was to raise her arms and cover her face.

She heard her bag being opened, heard things being thrown carelessly into the bushes around them. The beating suddenly ceased, and slowly she looked up to meet the eyes of Brea. The brunette held her Kingdom Hearts book from before, its glossy cover shining down at her mockingly. "So what have we learned today, Samantha? Never, ever talk like that to me again. Be a good girl, and you _might_ just get this back!" Sam stared menacingly into her enemy's eyes. Pushing Brea's friends off of her, Sam stood up, grabbed her now empty bag and camera, and ran, shutting out the jeers that trailed after her.

***

Sam's house was located way back into the woods, and could only be reached if you followed a long, winding dirt drive. As Sam reached the top of the dirt road and entered her home, she noticed only then that her camera was still recording. _It must've caught the whole thing on tape. _Stopping the video, she stuffed her Kodak disgustedly into her pocket and trudged into the house. 5:30, Taz would be here soon.

The two were planning on having a Friday sleepover, something the best friends had done ever since they'd established their friendship, back when they were eight. Glancing at herself in a mirror, Sam winced. She was covered in dirt and grime, and her cheek was sporting a growing bruise. Her arms were all cut up, and a cut on her lower lip was bleeding. She sighed. Hiding this from Taz was going to be pretty hard, but she figured if she put a lot of cover up on-

A knock at the garage door startled her, and immediately she went into panic mode. Taz was here already? Rushing to the living room, Sam quickly turned on the Playstation 2, popping in Kingdom Hearts 2 and throwing herself onto the couch. "Come in!" She sunk down a little, gripping the controller nervously, and tried to appear as relaxed as possible. Maybe he wouldn't even notice.

Taz walked in grinning, a duffel back hanging from his shoulder. "Sammy! I heard what you did… You stood up to her!" Sam nodded, focusing her attention instead on her favorite game. It had gotten to the screen where Sora stood eating a Sea Salt ice cream. What she wouldn't give for one of those right now. Quickly she pressed **Load Game** and found her memory slot; # 13.

"Sammy? Sa- SAM! What the hell happened to you this time?!" Sam winced, pissed that Taz had noticed so quickly. She angrily pressed the **X** button and the screen vanished, to be replaced by… Well that was _weird_; it was supposed to be replaced by Twilight Town... The TV screen and Playstation 2 glowed with a strange, golden light that slowly began to swirl and spiral up the controller wire. Sam gasped, to surprised to do much else, and gripped the controller even harder as it began to glow. Taz, who'd momentarily forgotten his anger, was bent down near the gaming system, examining it.

Suddenly there was a flash of white, and Sam was sucked forward, into the Playstation itself, only to spiral downward into blackness, the game controller vanishing from her grasp. She screamed Taz's name, wondering for a brief moment where he'd vanished too, for she'd seen him go too, but then the wind was knocked out of her, and she was reduced to gasping feebly for breath as she continued to fall.

Suddenly, another flash of white, and then she was falling through the night sky, stars twinkling far above her as she pummeled to earth. Below her, the lights of a town winked at her steadily as she fell. A rush of wind filled her ears, and Sam swore she could hear swords clashing, and people talking, some voices sounding very familiar. She saw faces, flashes of different scenes playing in her head. There was a sound that sounded like a sword being swung, and suddenly her side was stinging, making her cry out in pain and her eyes water more.

Then, Sam blacked out, still falling towards the earth and the town below.

***

Searing pain welcomed Sam's return to consciousness, causing her to gasp in agony and clutch at her side. She looked around her slowly, her thoughts coming to her all at once. Where was she? What had happened? Where was Taz? How badly was she hurt? Had the fall killed her? She shook her head, the questions were too many.

Tall buildings loomed up on either side of her, the alley she rested in sheltering her from the cold wind that she heard whistling through the growing dusk. Sam recognized nothing, which made panic make its way back into her chest since she'd fallen. A small sign caught the corner of her eye, and she turned her head to look. **Twilight Town Daily Paper: 10 munny. **

"Twilight Town… But isn't that in…?" Sam gasped again as another flash of pain seared through her body. Whatever had happened to her side, it was bad. She sat up, realizing for the first time that she'd been lying on the ground. It was only then that she noticed the dark figure nearly next to her.

It leaned against a dirty brick building, seeming to be deep in thought._ It's an Organization member! _Sam thought her eyes bright with excitement despite the pain she was in. She scrambled to her feet, wincing and gasping as she did so, and walked slowly, lurching every so often, over to the figure. Only when she got within a yard was she noticed.

Slowly the member turned its head to look at her, and instantly Sam felt stupid. Here she was, in Twilight Town walking towards a member of Organization 13, something highly impossible yet totally cool. Yet the fact that she was walking, very injured, towards a potentially dangerous person (judging by who it was under the hood), made her blush with embarrassment as the member turned to look at her. She paused just in front of the figure.

"What the-hey, are you _ok_?" Sam gasped, she'd know that voice off the back of her hand; Demyx! She looked down, feeling a cool, sticky substance on her fingers, and felt her eyes widen. Her whole right side of her shirt was covered in her own blood, as was her hand that had been holding her side. Feeling suddenly very unsteady, Sam swayed before losing her balance, eyes still on her wound, and fell

Demyx, if that was indeed who it was, caught her before she hit the ground, his hood falling off in the process. So it _was _Demy! Sam bit her lip as her wound was jostled, but refused to moan and groan about it in front of one of her favorite characters. Demyx picked her up, bride style, and opened a portal. A _portal_, where the heck was he taking her again? Sam shut her eyes almost all the way as he stepped into it, and then they were engulfed in darkness.

**Yo'k, so I hope you enjoyed the first official chapter of **_**Her Heart's Kingdom**_**. I finally finished proof-reading it today! This chapter basically has Sam and Taz falling into the game, and then Sam finds Demy. I know there wasn't a lot of character action in this chapter, it's all coming up in chapter 2, I promise! I'd again like two reviews of this chapter before I go ahead and publish chapter 2. I don't own Kingdom Hearts 2 or Demyx. I do own Taz and Sam (still not caring about Brea =p). Thanks! Peace!**

**~Marxno**


	3. Meet and Greet

**Meet and Greet**

"So you're telling me she just appeared in the alley."

"Yeah."

"And she was hurt."

"Uh, yeah."

"So you brought her BACK _HERE_?"

"Yeah!"

"Why?"

Demyx folded his arms and shook his head, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling at his friend's stupidity. "Because I care about things that don't involve _myself_. Unlike some other Nobody I know…" Axel's eyes narrowed and he sighed. "Well that's just plain rude, don't talk about Roxas like that! I mean, I know he's a nobody in more ways then one, but still…"

"I'm right here!" Roxas said, looking indignant.

"Axel, I meant _you_, not Roxas!"

Axel's green eyes widened in mock surprise, "What? Demy, how _could _you?"

"Oh, I _could _easily!"

Suddenly the girl stirred. Roxas, who'd been sitting on the couch next to her, froze. Axel smirked, having already forgotten about Demyx's insult, and walked over to sprawl on the other, empty sofa. "Calm down Roxas. She won't bite, not like… God, ever since that day, you've been so jumpy!"

Demyx snorted. "Uh, he has a reason to be!"

...

"Come on, just do it!" Roxas hesitated, the sharpie in his hand shaking as he neared the couch. The four of them: Axel, Demyx, Roxas and Xigbar, were in the castle lounge, the three older members hiding behind a pillar as Roxas crept closer to Larxene, who was sleeping on the couch. "Don't be a wuss!" Roxas turned to glare at Axel. _They _were the ones hiding behind a freakin' pole! Here he was, mere inches away from a gruesome death, while they all hide behind a pole! Demyx poked his head around the pillar, impatient. "Just do it already! Before I grow old and die!" Axel snorted. "At least you have to grow old first. Poor Xiggy here's already done that! Now he just has to die." There was a scuffling behind Roxas as Xigbar slapped Axel in the back of the head. "At least I'm not some hot-headed teen who-!" Roxas smirked as Xigbar continued to yell at Axel. He took his time in drawing. Now that those three idiots were busy killing each other, most of the pressure was lifted.

"Ta-da! Whadaya think?" Demyx and Axel both crept forward to get a better view. Xigbar appeared suddenly next to Roxas, upside down, making him jump. "Haha! She looks ridiculous!" Axel laughed, admiring Roxas' handiwork. Demyx looked at Larxene for about five seconds before collapsing in a hysterical heap on the floor, clutching his sides from laughing so much. "She does look less scary, I have to admit." Xigbar noted, taking no notice of Demyx's loss of self-composure. Demyx, who'd been trying to stand up, wiped the tears from his eyes. He caught sight of Larxene again and re-collapsed with a fresh wave of the hilarities, only this time he took Axel down with him. The two rolled on the floor, unable to stop laughing. That's when she woke up. In an instant Larxene was standing holding Axel and Demyx's collars. "What. The hell. Did you. Do. To. Me?" Axel shook his head, tears streaming down his face. He caught Demyx's eyes, and the two started laughing again. Larxene let go of them in disgust, letting them crumple in a heap on the floor, and ran to the TV screen, looking at her reflection worriedly.

That's when she saw it. Her face was covered in marker. She had a marker mustache, a marker beard, and little dotes everywhere she looked. Someone had written "Kick me" on her forehead. Aside from that, they'd also drawn dorky glasses around her eyes, and the words "Antenna Head" were written on each of her cheeks. Basically, her face was the remnants of a nuclear prank. Larexene turned around slowly, her face contorted with rage and humiliation. "Oooh, if looks could kill!" Xigbar laughed, walking over (still upside down) to Axel, Demyx, and Roxas, who were beginning to realize the danger they were in. They were beginning to back away, slowly, so the enraged blonde wouldn't really notice. "You guys are gonna die, let me put it bluntly." Axel winced and leaned over to Roxas. "She always _did_like to put things bluntly." Roxas gulped, backing up a step as she drew nearer. Suddenly, her weapons appeared, two sets of knives on her knuckles. The air around them began to grow with electric charge.

"Oooh sugar honey ice tea, she really is gonna kill us…." Demyx glanced at Axel before clearing his throat. "Don't worry guys, I'll take one for the team, you just run on my signal." Demyx stepped forward a little bit and attempted a smile. "Hehe, h-hi Larxy… Hey, what's that over- RUN, RUN AWAY!" Demyx took off, sprinting as fast as he could down the hallway with Axel on his heels. Xigbar disappeared, leaving Roxas alone with the crazy chick. "Oh fudge." Roxas squeaked, realizing he was still holding the marker. He dropped it, wincing as it smacked the floor before rolling away. Larxene saw this. "Oh, so it was you." Her voice was eerily calm, yet the electricity continued to grow. Larxene smiled at him before taking a step closer. "Don't worry dude, I know you're new, I won't kill you."

"You-you won't?"

"Nope! Just hurt you REALLY badly!"

Roxas gulped as she started walking towards him, lightning striking around her.

...

"Alright, come on Roxas, man up! It wasn't that bad!"

"You try being zapped every few seconds for the next month and tell me how it feels!"

Demyx looked thoughtful. "He _did_get that lovely scar on his stomach from her…"

"Could you shut up?"

...

Sam's eyes snapped open, her breathing irregularly fast. She found herself layed out on a hard sofa, a thin blanket draped over her. She winced as her side seared with pain, remembering how she'd fainted as she'd looked up at Memory Skyscraper. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been, though. In fact, her wound felt much up, Sam blinked a little in the harsh light and looked around. A large bedroom was before her, everything held the symbol of the Nobodies on it, from the bed to the dresser. Sitting up a bit more, Sam jumped when she noticed the three guys around her. "What is this, a rape?" The guy on the sofa across from her, with spiky red hair, sat up and snorted. "You wish." A pillow was hurled at him from behind her, and Sam noticed a blond guy behind her. "Axel, please shut up!" Sam suddenly remembered where she was. "You're Axel!" She yelled, almost flying off the couch. She pointed to Roxas. "And you're Roxas, and you," she said, turning to Demyx, "you're Demyx. You saved me."

Demyx blushed softly and nodded. "Yeah, no biggie, what was I supposed to do, leave you there?" At this he turned to glare at Axel, who shrugged. Roxas, who'd curled himself into a little ball on the couch, looked at her. "What's your name?"

"Hm? Oh, Sam."

"Eh, how'd you know ours?"

"I-" Sam stopped. Would they think she was crazy if she told them the truth? That she'd fallen into a video game; that they were all in a game? She decided to take her chances; after all, friendships weren't built on lies, were they? "I, um, I come from another, er, world-"

"That takes pride in stalking people?" Sam looked at Axel, bemused. She'd imagined him to be a little nicer. "_No_. Just, erm, you guys are… he- heroes! Yeah, you guys are heroes there!" Axel looked bored, Demyx surprised. "_Heroes_? What did we do?" Sam glanced at Demyx. "You're admired for your battle skills. You destroyed heartless there that were terrorizing us." Sam felt a little guilty. _So much for telling the truth... At least half of it's true. _But the three seemed to buy it. "Cool, who woulda though I'd be admired for my fighting skills?"

"No one Demyx."

"Will you _please_?"

Sam laughed. She couldn't help it, she hadn't laughed in a while, not since the previous day with Taz. _Taz_. She gasped and rolled the rest of the way off the sofa, ignoring the bickering friends and hurrying to the window. _Where could he be? What if he's hurt? _Sam couldn't believe she'd forgotten about him, what kind of best friend was she? By this time, she'd been noticed. "Er, Sam? Are you ok?" Sam turned to find Demyx looking questioningly at her. Axel appeared to be sleeping, while Roxas was staring off into space. "No, I lost my best friend. I don't know where he is and am afraid he's hurt, like I was." Demyx frowned and leaned on the back of the couch. "Oh. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"What do you mean "_we"_?"

"Aw c'mon Axel, don't be such a jerk!" Sam's eyes narrowed. He _was_being very jerkish. "Yeah, actually. Could I stay here until I get better? And maybe have some fighting lessons?" Axel's eye popped open. "I'm in! I'll train her to fight." He called, raising his hand. "No freakin' way, you'll kill her."

"So?"

"NO!"

Axel huffed and let his hand collapse. "Roxas?" Demyx called, causing Roxas to jump in surprise; he'd been zoning. "Could you train her to fight?" Roxas nodded and looked shyly at Sam. "Kay, then you can stay in my room. Axel will give you the grand tour tomorrow."

"Heh?"

"Yeah."

"Hell no."

"Freak yes!"

"Why?"

"Cause I gotta go on some stupid mission tomorrow, and Roxas was assigned to come with me."

"Why him?"

"I don't KNOW! Just please do this? So she doesn't get lost! I promise it's the only thing I'll ask you to do!"

Axel considered this, his green eyes resting on Sam, which made her shift uncomfortably. Axel had always been one of her favorites in the game. She'd even had a doll of him… however that seemed a little creepy at the moment. "Fine, but don't expect it to be funtastic."

"We never would."

"Funtastic?"

Roxas glanced over at the clock on the wall. It read 1:13 am. "I'm gonna go. See you guys tomorrow. Bye Sam."

"Bye Roxas!" As the keyblade holder left Sam turned to Demyx. "Not much of a speaker, is he?"

"Not around new people, no."

"Yeah, when it's just us we can't get him to shut up!"

Demyx glared at Axel. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Axel snorted before getting up, taking the hint. "Haven't you forgotten that I don't have a mission tomorrow? I don't have to get up early. It's called sleeping _in_!" Demyx smirked. "Not when you have a tour to give."

Axel turned. "There isn't a hope in heaven and hell combined that I'm getting up before twelve." He glared at Sam. "Got it memorized?" The door shut softly behind him.

"What a fruit cup."  
"A what?"

"Nothing." Sam walked back over to the couch she used as a bed, rejecting Demyx's offer of her to take the bed. She'd rather not deprive one of her favorite characters of his own bed. Lying down, she found that she was exhausted. She'd barely said good night to Demyx before she fell asleep.

...

Axel lay in his bed, thinking. It had been about an hour since he'd left Demyx's room, and still the same thoughts circled his mind. So Sam was from a different world? Where they were considered _heroes_? He didn't by that for half a second. Something was fishy about her. He'd just have to keep his eyes open (and chakrams out).

...

Sam's dreams were filled with confusion. She found herself running throughout Hollow Bastian, screaming Leon's name. She was being chased by Axel, his chakrams ablaze and on fire. Then suddenly Taz was there, wielding a long sword, which suddenly turned into his blue and yellow duffel bag. He swung at Axel with it, and suddenly they both disappeared, leaving a bewildered Yuffie and Sam behind.

...

**So that ends Chapter 2: Meet and Greet. Yeah, I know it's longer, I hope I have the time to do this kind of chapter again (though it's highly unlikely… I think…)! I chose the name for this chapter because you kind of get to meet the first of the Organization members (non-arguably the best!) and see what they're like. Plus, Sam meets (and greets =p) Demyx, Roxas, and Axel! I hoped that you liked this chapter, it took me all day to write it, amidst Twister (the movie) and two tests (one of which I had to cram-study right before I took it -_-). I think it's the best one so far, though. I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. Oh, and those quotes ("RUN, RUN AWAY!" & "Got it memorized?") belong to them too (*cries* why do they own everything!). I DO own Sam and Taz (*cheers*)! So pwease review, it really makes my day, guys! K, peace!**

**~Marxno**

**Axel – What the hell?**

**Marxno- What?**

**Axel- Why'd you make me such a jerk? I so don't act like that!**

**Demyx – Yes you do, all the time!**

**Marxno – Yeah, I agree with Demy… *steps over to stand next to Demyx***

**Axel – Wha- Oh, so you're **_**teaming **__**up **_**on me now? *runs offstage and grabs Roxas***

**Marxno - *Glances at ground and notices a line that divides Axel and Roxas from her and Demy*… WHEN THE HELL DID THIS GET HERE!**

**Roxas - What did I do this time?**

**Axel – You'll rue the day you sided against me! *grabs Roxas and runs off***

**Demyx – Did someone find that coffee I lost and give it to him?**

**Marxno – Who the hell says **_**rue **_**anymore?**

**Axel - *from offstage* I do! Got it **_**memorized**_**?**

**Marxno – NEVER!**

**Thanks to my first two reviewers here on Fanfiction: **

**Fluffi-Dinosaur**

**Beth**

**=D **

**Click the button… it's just a **little **click (and **_**maybe **_**some typing…)! You can do it!**


	4. Potion

**Potion**

Demyx woke at 5:30, chucking a pillow at the alarm clock as it rang, announcing the long day to come. He slouched out of bed and threw on his uniform, glancing over at Sam. The alarm hadn't even woken her up. Should he wake her to tell her where he'd be going? _Nah, she heard me say it yesterday, she'll be fine alone. Still, maybe I should check on her wound, it was pretty bad yesterday. _Moving as quietly as he could to the sofa-side, Demyx gazed for a moment at the sleeping girl. She couldn't have been much younger than he was, he figured. Something about the way she frowned in her sleep made Demyx feel strange. But it was a good feeling; one that he guessed must have been affection. He leaned over her, trying not to wake her as he lifted back the cover to check her wound.

...

"_Taz_!" Sam leapt up, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Her dream clung to her unwaveringly, parts of it still flashing through her mind. "Whoa!" Demyx yelped, leaping backwards as Sam sat up, surprised by her sudden wakefulness. He judged his step back wrong, however, and tripped over the coffee table behind him, falling with a _thud_, landing half on the floor, half on the opposite sofa. Sam held back her giggles, feeling guilty for scaring Demy. Walking quickly over to him, she held out her hand. He looked up at her embarrassedly, his hair still in "bed" mode, and took her hand, allowing Sam to help him up.

Brushing himself off, Demyx glanced over at her. "Why'd you have to scare me like that? Not cool, Sam."

"Sorry, I was having a nightmare. And… that was the fastest way to get out of it."

Demyx frowned. "You couldn't have "gotten out of it" a little less violently?"

"Oh, if you think _that's_ violent-"

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. It opened and Roxas slouched in, his eyes nearly closed with exhaustion. He made it to the unmade bed before he collapsed face first onto the mattress. "Dis suks!" he yelled, his voice muffled by the bed.

Demyx grinned despite his tiredness and walked over to his friend. "Come on Rox, we'd better get going before Mansex has another fit. Remember the last one?"

Roxas sat up immediately. "Oooh, yeah… that was bad."

"Yes it was. So let's go before it happens again!"

Sam frowned. She'd wanted to ask Demyx what he'd been doing standing over her in the first place, but she guessed she'd have to wait until later. She waved as the two made to leave. "Go to Axel's room at nine, there's a map in the second drawer right there." Demyx called, pointing to the table beside his bed.

"M'kay, have fun guys!"

"Not even in my best dreams," mumbled Demyx, before shutting the door behind him. Rolling her eyes, Sam made sure the door was shut tight before curling up on the sofa, her thoughts drifting for a while before she finally fell back to sleep.

...

"_Sam? I__ don't know where you are, but Leon says we'll find you soon enough. I promise we'll see each other soon, just hang tight, kay?"_

...

Sam blinked open her eyes, her heart beating slowly. She felt a tear roll down her cheek. Had that just been a dream, or had Taz actually communicating with her? _Leon_? From Hollow Bastion? _That_ Leon? Glancing at the clock, which read 9:01, Sam decided to get up. Stumbling blearily to the table Demyx had mentioned earlier, she sifted through the junk in the second drawer before finding the castle map. On the back were instructions that were hastily scribbled.

_Sam, _

_Under the bed there's an extra uniform for you (I stole it from Larexene, so I hope it fits!). If you see someone in the hallway that's not me, Axel, or Roxas, throw the hood up and pretend to be either Larxene or Zexion (he's short enough that you can get away with it… don't tell him I said that…). Good luck today, and be patient with Axel; he has some "manly" mood swings sometimes._

_Demyx_

_Ps. Me and Roxas should get back around 8pm_

Sam smirked and bent down to retrieve the extra Organization coat, zipping it up over her clothes. There were a pair of boots there too, but she decided to wear her Converse instead, preferring the comfort of her own shoes. The coat fit nicely enough, hugging her curves and shaping her body. Sam slipped out of the room and threw up her hood; she didn't want to take any chances. Following the map, she made her way down the hall: right, then right again, then left, until she came to a dead end. To her right there was a single door with the number "8" painted on it. Knocking, Sam hovered, waiting to be let in. No one opened the door. No one yelled for her to come in. She knocked again; same response. On the seventh try she sighed in frustration and threw the door open. It hit the wall with a _bang_. Axel's room was just as plain as Demyx's, and looked just the same. Only this room had an occupied bed, with just a hint of spiky red hair peaking out from under the covers.

"Wow Axel, you _bedhead_."

Sam heard an exaggerated huff, and then: "Getoutamyroom."

She'd been expecting this, so she was prepared. "Getouta_bed_."

Axel groaned and raised his head a little, snapped his fingers, then let himself collapse back onto his bed. Suddenly the hem of Sam's coat was on fire, the flames licking up the black material hungrily. She yelped loudly and, not thinking, ran forward, trying to get away from the flames. In her frantic panicking, Sam accidentally tripped over a discarded pillow, which had been lying forlornly on the ground. With an intake of breath she flew through the air, landing on top of Axel.

"Oof!"

"What the _hell_? _Gerroff_!"

Sam's brows furrowed in anger, and as she slid off the fiery red head, she glared, rolling her eyes as he sat up, gazing annoyedly at her. "Well?"

She didn't blink, "_what_?" Axel looked surprised at her snappy tone. "Aren't you gonna _apologize_?"

"No."

"Why?"

"What did I even _do_?"

Axel stared at her, astounded. "Um, let's see. You… barged in without permission. Woke me up and wouldn't leave when I told you too. And… oh yeah, COLLAPSED on me! I mean, what ever happened to _stop_, _drop_, and _roll_?"

That did it for Sam. In an instant she was right in front of him, her fists clenched at her sides. "_Look_!" She hissed, her eyes level with his. "I got beat up less than twenty four hours ago. Got sucked into a freakin' _game_-_" _Sam hesitated, horrified, unsure if Axel had noticed what she'd just said. Fortunantly, Axel seemed oblivious, so she just continued on her rant- "free-fell for God _knows_ how long, got _mortally_ _wounded_, my best friend's _missing_ and may be hurt, and to top it all off, I just got burned by you! LITERALLY! So I don't wanna hear or see any more _shit_ from you, or I swear to God in Heaven and Satan in Hell I'll beat the fire and a load of other stuff right out of you! GOT IT?"

Axel sighed. "Alright, Alright! I _get_ it! Jeez, talk about a mood sw-" Suddenly Sam let out a furious shriek and lunged for his throat, her fingers closing around it before he could dodge away. She cut off all his breathing and glared in hatred at him as he stared disbelievingly at her. Summoning fire, he sent it to her hands, burning them and causing Sam to yelp in pain. Axel gasped and coughed when she let go, still surprised that she'd tried to choke him. He hadn't had anyone try to kill him since yesterday, when Larxene's best uniform had gone missing mysteriously…

"Okay, I got it! That was unnecessary-"

"The hell it wasn't! You deserved that!"

Axel glared at her, still a little nervous about making her angry. He decided to let her win. "Okay, fine, _whatever_. Let's just get this tour over with."

"Fine by me! I'd rather have Lexaeus as a guide; at least he wouldn't _talk _and say jerkish things all the time!" Axel sighed and got up, his uniform already on. Sam squinted her eyes, amused. "Uh, do you always sleep in your clothes?"

"Huh? Nah, I was just too damn tired to change last night."

The two left Axel's room and headed down the hallway; Sam making sure her hood was up before they left. They made turn after turn, passing through various rooms as they went. Sam scratched her head, confusion clouding her brain. She hadn't though that the Organization's castle could have been so _big_. It made the castles she'd read about in Europe look like the tiny sand castles that you made on the beach. The came to a lone door that stood partially propped open. Sam could hear a voice from within.

Axel glanced at her. "Uh, I don't think we're gonna go in there…"

"Why?"

"That's Vexen's lab. Y'never know what he's up to…"

Sam smiled. She'd always thought that Vexen was the creepiest of the members, what with his weird hair…

"Let's go in."

Axel looked at her like she was crazy. "_What_! No way, he's a loon! I mean anyone who _talks_ to themselves… We'd be dead meat if we were to cross paths with him in his… natural environment."

"So?" Sam shrugged and slipped past Axel into the room.

"Oh boy." Axel shook his head and followed. Today was definantly going to be a long day.

...

"Caarefully…. _Caaarefully_…caaare-"

"Hey."

"WAAAGH!"

Vexen, who'd been leaning over a number of vials and tubes, trying to pour a small amount of bluish liquid into a test tube, jumped in surprise and whirled around. Sam stood with her hands behind her back and hood still drawn up. "Are you _mad_? I was in the middle of a very important experiment!" Axel slapped his hand to his forehead. Hadn't Demyx made it clear not to speak to anyone! Walking forward form his place in the shadows, Axel smirked as Vexen caught sight of him and flinched. Sam was looking upward at Vexen, trying to get a better look at him. Suddenly, her hood fell down, revealing her face.

"Who are _you_?" Vexen gasped, jumping away from Sam, still holding the test tube full of blue liquid. Sam froze, her face resembling a deer caught in headlights. Axel shook his head. _I _told_ her not to come in here… looks like I'll have to bail her out_…_ Can _nothing_ be easy_?

"This is Sam, Vexen. She's the newest member of the Organization."

Vexen gazed back at Sam. "Oh God, _another_ noob? I thought we'd learned since Xion…" Axel rolled his eyes, tempted to set Vexen's mysterious test tube on fire, maybe cause a little disaster; but Sam beat him to it. "Hey! I'm _not_ a noob! At least I'm not the loser who died a hilarious death-"

She froze, her face etched with horror. Her hand came up and clapped over her mouth before she could say more. Then, as suddenly as she had frozen, she unfroze, coughing a little and looking the other way. An awkward silence enveloped the lab, Axel and Vexen's confusion and suspicion mounting.

...

Sam could have punched herself! She'd already let too much slip! Before when she'd been ranting to Axel, she'd accidentally let loose how she'd gotten "sucked into a freakin' game" (thank goodness he'd been too tired to notice). And now this! She shuffled her feet nervously, feeling both Vexen and Axel's stares on her. She had to admit though… the way Axel had killed Vexen had been HILarious! She'd cracked up with Taz for a good ten minutes when they'd watched the cutscene.

_Taz_.

Sam suddenly felt the room tilt. Gasping softly, she lost her balance, stumbling sideways into Vexen. He fumbled with his test tube, dropping it as he tried to catch himself. Sam hit the ground hard, the blue liquid spraying all over her face. In her eyes, her hair, her mouth… Sam gagged as the liquid slid down her throat. Suddenly, she choked, unable to breathe. Her body began to ache all over, and then suddenly she was frozen, unable to move, still not breathing. She couldn't even turn her eyes to look at Axel and Vexen. She began to black out, her heart pounding in her chest. _I'm going to die_!_ I'm going to die_..._ I'm go_…_ing to_…_die_…

...

"Shit." Forgetting his previous suspicion, Axel lunged forward, checking to see if Sam was breathing. She wasn't… "Vexen! What's happening? What _was_ that?"

The scientist's eyes were wide with shock and excitement. "It was my newest experiment. If drunk, the consumer will find themselves graced with superior strength and power. Quite handy for those meddling little-"

"She's not breathing, here!" Axel yelled, his patience waning.

Vexen winced. "Yes… about the experiment… It hasn't been tested yet. She'll be the one to show me if it's ready!"

"We should _probably_ HELP her now!" Axel yelled, angry that all Vexen cared about was his stupid experiments… they didn't even work, anyways! Sam's face was beginning to turn blue, yet she remained motionless, her eyes staring unseeingly up at the ceiling.

"Shit, first day and I've already let her die! Demyx is gonna kill me!"

Axel picked her up, turned, and summoned a portal around him, not even bothering to walk. He glanced back at Vexen, who was staring at him like he was crazy. "What? You're coming with me! You're the idiot that dropped that stuff onto her, so you're gonna help me keep her alive!" Vexen backed up a step and his eyes flickered to the door, which remained open from when the two had entered the room. Axel caught this and his face darkened. A wall of fire enveloped the room, making the scientist yelp in surprise; Axel knew he hated fire. "Now you're gonna come with me, or you're gonna die. Pick." Gulping, Vexen hurried forward, disappearing into the portal quickly. Axel looked down at Sam; her eyes were starting to glaze over. "Today. Is _not_. My day." He grumbled, the portal enveloping them in blackness.

...

"_Okay_, it's not working!"

Axel turned to glare at Vexen. He'd been giving Sam mouth to mouth for the past ten mintues, and still she seemed to be closer and closer to dying. Vexen, who stood with his arms crossed in the corner, glared back at him. "Thank you Captain Obvious! Look, don't you have an antidote or something in your rat hole?"

"It's a LAB! And… I might."

Axel stood up and walked slowly towards Vexen, his voice an icy calm. "You mean to tell me that you've had a possible antidote… THIS WHOLE TIME?"

"Uh… possibly… it could have some side affects… or kill her…"

"Well she's dying anyways Einstein, so go get it!"

Vexen hurried into a portal quickly, wanting to be away from Axel and his… his… fiery wrath.

...

The portal closed behind the icy scientist, and he paused a moment. Whipping out his camera, he turned it on and flipped through the previously taken pictures. It _so_ looked like Axel was kissing her, such perfect blackmail! He cackled in that creepy way he always did and hurried forward, grabbing the little vile containing the supposed antidote. Taking one last look at the pictures, Vexen set his camera on his printing dock and pressed **Print All**, then hurried back through the portal, scooping one of the freshly printed pictures up as he went.

...

Axel jumped as the door to his room banged open and Demyx and Roxas walked in. They looked like they'd had a hard, long day by the way they dragged their feet… and collapsed on the surrounding couches.

"We were looking everywhere for you, man! How was the tour?"

Axel tried to grin at Demyx, and turned around to check on Sam. She appeared to be only sleeping. His grin dropped when he knew they couldn't see his face anymore, a grimace replacing it. "Uh… it was great! Yup, she got a little tired, so I told her she could take a nap in here 'til you got back."

"Oh, that was nice of you." Roxas leaned forward, peering at Sam closely. "Wow, she must be really tired!"

"Uh, yeah…"

Vexen stumbled through a portal that had suddenly materialized behind the opposite sofa, a vile in his hand. He tossed it to Axel and went to stand next to the couch that Demyx had claimed, a notebook and pen in his hand, poised to write. "Hasn't responded to anything yet…" He mumbled, jotting down his notes. "Might already be dead, no thanks to _Axel_…"

"Shut up! I did way more than you, ice ass!"

"Ah, but who retrieved the antidote?"

"Who's _dead_?" Demyx was sitting up now, bewildered. Roxas hugged his knees and glanced again at Sam. "Uh, I think _she_ is."

"WHAT?"

Axel chuckled nervously. "Hehe… sorry!"

"WHAT DO YOU _MEAN_ SORRY?" Demyx was on his feet in an instant, hands clenched angrily. He pushed Axel out of the way and raced over to Sam, feeling her pulse. Meanwhile, Vexen had been thinking. "Hey wait a minute Axel, _Sam_ isn't a Nobody name! It doesn't have an X in it!"

Axel stared blankly at Vexen. "Of course _you_ would pick up on that! Of all the times to realize this-! Her name is… uh… Maxs! Sam was her old name. Yeah… happy?"

"Maybe…"

"A little HELP here!" Demyx was crouched over Sam, wondering what in Kingdom Hearts name to do, when suddenly she began to cough. Everyone backed up and stared as Sam sat up and looked around. "What did I miss?" Vexen smirked, "Here," he handed her a picture, which she took quickly and looked over.

"WHAAA?" Sam's eyes were as large as Axel's chakrams. She stood up and marched over to Axel, throwing the picture to Roxas. He took one look at it and his jaw dropped. Robotically he handed the photo to Demyx.

Axel scratched his head nervously. "Uh, can someone please explain to me why-"

"You _KISSED_ HER?"

"Heh?"

Demyx threw the picture to Axel, who hastily looked it over. "Wha- NO! I was giving her mouth to mouth! Who took- _Vexen_." Summoning his chakrams, Axel advanced on the scientist, who was trying to hold back tears of laughter. Suddenly, a keyblade whizzed past Axel, cutting off a piece of his hair. Sam swung the blade back, resting it on her shoulder, and crouched down, another one appearing in her left hand. "You… are so gonna DIE!" She charged at Axel, keyblades raised.

"Uh, you better _run_ man."

...

**Phew, ok so I'm done! Took me a while to finally finish; basketball season started Saturday! Anywho, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. I do own Sam and Taz, oh yay! Hope you all enjoy! Please comment, I love to see what people think of my stories! And if you have any suggestions/ideas for the next chapter, just msg me about it! Thanks, peace!**

**~MarXno**

**Ps. Happy Thanksgiving, people!**

**Axel: That was wrong, why me?**

**Roxas: Dude, I still can't believe you kissed her!**

**Axel: I DIDN'T kiss her!**

**Roxas: Sure…**

**Demyx: Perve!**

**Marxno: You tell 'im!**

**Axel: Well that's not very FLATTERING! *summons chakrams and fire***

**MarXno: run… Run… RUN!**

**Demyx: *Gets down on knees* Please, I wanna have turkey tomorrow, PLEASE!**

**MarXno: You'll be turkey if you don't RUN!**

***Demyx and Marxno scurry away***

**Axel: Well that was easy… *turns to Roxas* Wanna go get some ice cream?**

**Roxas: Sure. Good thinking scaring them away like that! No we don't have to pay for them!**

**Axel: Yup**

**Roxas: So did you really kiss her?**

**Axel: … I hate you.**


	5. The Joke Masters

**The Joke Masters**

_**Day 3, 8:24 AM, Demyx's room**_

_When a person is really bored, they tend to amuse themselves with things that, normally, they would never pay attention to or think of. Take a long car trip for example. If you've brought something to do, so that you won't get bored, then you won't need to try hard to amuse yourself. However, if you've forgotten to bring anything in the car, then you begin to open your eyes to the world around you, in order to keep yourself entertained. Some will count the number of cars on the highway, others will turn up the radio, yet you always discover something when you try to amuse yourself, try to keep yourself from becoming incredibly bored. I've discovered that life without Taz is hard and utterly impossible for me. It's not that I'm so much bored and I am lonely. Yes, Demy and the guys are trying, but you can't just go on as you used to after something this big as happen to you. I miss Taz, and try to figure out how I'll find him again… but it's not like that. I don't love him… Well, I do, it's just, in a family sort of way, not a lovey dovey kind of way. We're to close to be like that… if that makes any sense at all, which I doubt it does. So that's it, really. I feel alone, incredibly alone, despite being surrounded by new friends… even if it is really only Demyx that talks to me…_

_Something has happened. I have changed, for the better or worse, I don't know yet. I do know that, unlike when I came to this world, I am now a match for most of its inhabitants .Yeah, I still need Roxas to help me with my fighting skills, but I think that with my knew… powers… I'll get whatever he throws at me down pat in no time. Seriously, you would never believe what's happened to me…_

_..._

"Hey! Whatcha doin'?"

Sam jumped out of her seat and clutched at her journal, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She turned to glare at Demyx, who'd completely snuck on her while she'd been writing. "None of your busi-E-ness!"

"Aw, c'mon!"

"Sorry Dem, that's what you get for snooping… I might have told you, too…"

Demyx plopped down on the sofa next to Sam and took her hand; Sam blinked, surprised. "Please, please, _please_?"

She winced as the puppy dog eyes came out. "Shoot… Fine, I was writing."

"Writing what?"

"Uh… Oh hey Axel!" Sam and Demyx turned as the door to Demyx's room opened and Axel walked in, followed by a tired looking Roxas. Axel waved and went to his usual coach, sitting down and shutting his eyes almost immediately. "Long day?"

"Ya think? This kid over here wouldn't stop whacking me with his stupid keyblades!"

Sam turned to Roxas, who was standing next to her side of the sofa. "You hit Axel with your keyblade?"

"Repeatedly?" Piped up Demyx, whose attention had quickly slipped from Sam's writing.

"_Keyblades_. He has two of them now."

Demyx turned to Axel, whose eyes were still closed.

"Really? That's so awesome! Can I seem em' Rox? _Please_?"

"It's not awesome, it's hurtsome. I'm gonna have bruises for the next week!"

"Oh suck it up! You'll live!"

Axel popped an eye open to glare at Sam before standing up. "I'm going to get some ice. Think Vexen will let me borrow his power for a little while?"

"Doubt it."

"Right, so force it is then."

Sam turned to Roxas as the door closed behind the pryo. "So, why'd ya beat him up?"

The keybearer turned red. "I didn't beat him up on purpose! There was a new type of heartless we had to exterminate, and it turned out that its power was making a thick fog. So… I though that Axel was the heartless…"

"Pfftt… hahahahaha! That's GREAT! Wow Roxy… But wait, why didn't he fight back, or stop you?"

Demyx had been trying to peek into Sam's journal the whole time that Roxas and Sam had been talking, and winced as she leaned over and hit him lightly over the head with her book.

"No peeks!"

"Aww, why?"

"'Cause, it's private, bud."

"Axel knew where the real heartless was, so he was focusing on killing it before I killed him."

Sam smirked. "What, you really didn't know it was him?"

"Er, Sammy? When Roxas is fighting, he goes into this kind of berserker state… It's really creepy, to tell you the truth!"

_Sammy_.

_Taz_?

Sam blinked and shook her head, trying to clear the fog that had wrapped itself tightly around her mind. Roxas sighed and walked over to a couch. "WHAT THE-? Hahaha… HAHAHAHA!"

Roxas whirled around, looking around for the source of Sam's laughter. "What? What is it?"

"Yeah Sam, what?"

Sam pointed weakly towards Roxas, her breathing coming in gasps she was laughing so hard. This time, Demyx spotted what she was cracking up about.

"O…M…G… HAHAHA! Dude, he got you GOOD!"

Demyx and Sam slumped together, unable to control their laughter. Tears rolled down their faces. Roxas turned around and looked at his backside, wondering what they were talking about. The lower half of his black coat and upper half of his pants were burned off, revealing his boxers clearly to anyone who looked. "CRAP!" Demyx cracked up all over again, watching as Roxas whirled around so that he faced Demyx and Sam. "Uh…"

"Aw, don't be embarrassed Roxas, it's just Axel's little way of saying that you're friends, _trust_ me!"

"Yeah, if he hadn't already gotten you back for the smack down you gave him, I would have been very afraid. The worst things always are longer to come."

Roxas nodded, his face growing redder than his boxers. "Uh, can someone call MarXno, _please_?"

"Sure dude." Demyx snapped his fingers, and a portal formed in front of them.

"Uh, who's MarXno?"

Demyx turned and grinned. "She's the newest member to the Organization, well, besides you, anyways. Axel found her about a week ago."

_Huh, so life really does continue and weave in the game… interesting… **scary**… _Suddenly there was movement from within the portal, and a second later a short girl with blue hair down to just below her mid-back stepped out of the blackness. She was, in appearance, not any older than Roxas. She had his eye color, if not a little lighter and deeper. MarXno folded her arms and glared at Demyx, tapping her foot on the ground. It was only then that Sam realized that the other girl also wore different shoes, similar to her Converse. In fact, she wore a different outfit entirely. Instead of the Organization coat, MarXno wore a white dress that came up shortly on her legs. Over top of that she wore a white, billowy skirt that parted in the middle and flowed elegantly down to her knees. There was a shorter part of the skirt that overlapped the longer bit. This part was elegantly decorated, and went down to just about her bottom. The edges of the material of the skirt were blue hearts surrounded by yellow and white lines, while the edges of the shorter dress underneath were red and white, with blue hearts. In her hair was a red heart clip. "What have I told you guys about snapping your fingers at me?"

"Er, sorry MarX, but we kinda have a little problem…"

"And that would be?"

Roxas cleared his throat and beckoned the girl over to him. She sighed and walked over, to where Roxas whispered something in her ear. "WHAT? No way! I need to see this!"

"Nu-uh! Just fix it, please!"

"Show it to me!"

Roxas, turning redder than before, got up and turned around. MarX's mouth fell open and her eyes grew huge. Demyx and Sam exploded into a mass of laughter. "Now can you please fix it?"

MarXno nodded, giggling. She continued to laugh as she summoned her weapon, a good sized book and a feather quill, and began to write. She repeated what she wrote down. "Suddenly… Roxas' pants were fix; they were as good as new." Roxas turned around to find his pants back in place. He sighed in relief. "There, happy?"

"Yeah, thanks MarX."

"No probs… so… who's this?"

Sam squirmed a little under MarXno's stare. "I'm Maxs, the newest member."

"Oh really? So this means I'm no longer the noob?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"YEAH! Finally; I didn't think I'd ever get rid of that title!"

Demyx laughed. "Congrats, you just did."

Sam glanced at the clock, the time read 9:54 AM. She had a training session with Roxas at 11:00, that much she knew. "Hey guys, wanna play a game?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Sam smiled at Demyx. "Well, it's pretty stupid really, me and Ta-… me and my friend used to play it. It's called 'Your Mama'. What you do is think up an insult, and whoever has the best one wins." Sam blushed. Now that she'd said it aloud, the game did sound pretty stupid…

"Great! Let's play!"

Sam smiled appreciatively at Demyx.

"M'kay, I'll start, and then you go Demyx. Then you MarXno, then you Rox."

"Please, call me MarX."

"'M'kay." Sam thought back to all the fum she'd had playing this with Taz, and it made her heart hurt. She shook herself free from the painful memories and began. "Demy, your mama's so fat she stepped on the scale and it said to be continued!"  
Demyx laughed. "Good one! Alright, MarX… Your mama's so dumb that when she saw a bus full of white people she said "go catch that twinky!"!"

MarX frowned playfully. "Um, that actually happened, but whatever... Hehe, okay Roxy. Yo mama's so retarded she got stabbed in a shoot-out!"

Roxas laughed, the first time Sam had ever heard him laugh.

"Gee, _thanks _MarX! Sam, your mama's so fat, that when she fell in the forest, the loggers said "TIMBERRR"!"

Sam fell back onto the sofa, cracking up. "I didn't think you had it in you Roxas!" Everyone laughed. Suddenly, the door opened and Axel walked in, carrying two bags of ice. He took in the occupants and rolled his eyes, walking over to sit on the other sofa. Everyone, meanwhile, had caught each other's eyes. They had an idea.

"Axel?"

"Hm?"

"Yo mama is so fat that when she ordered a water bed, they layed a blanket on the Pacific Ocean!"

"Huh, what ocean-?"

Demyx cut him off. "Yo mama is so poor when I asked her why she was banging on the dumpster, she said "my kids locked me out"!

"Wha- I never did that!"

MarX cut in. "Yo mama is so fat that her cereal bowl comes with a lifeguard!"

"OOHHH!" Sam and Demyx slapped fives.

"That was a good one MarX."

"Thanks… it's good 'cause it's true."

"IS NOT!"

Roxas laughed. "Yo mama so fat that when she bungee jumps, she brings down the bridge, too!"

"More like when she bungee jumps, she goes straight to hell."

"Ooooh!"

"WHAT THE HEL-"

"Sam! Finish us off!"

"Yo mama so fat she got hit by a parked car!"

"Wha-?"  
"Yo mama so fat that when she was floating in the ocean Spain claimed her for the new world!"

"Huh-?"

"Yo mama is so fat she stands in two time zones!"

"Hell-!"

"Yo mama so fat that if she would have been in E.T., when she rode the bike across the moon, she would cause an eclipse."

"What's E.-?"

"Yo mama's so stupid she bought a solar powered flashlight!"

"I think _you're_ the stupid one, you're so gonna get it-"

"A thought crossed your mind?" Sam suddenly became very serious. "Must have been a _loooong_ and lonely journey!"

"_Really _long!" sniggered MarXno, who was holding her sides from laughing so much, Demyx had slumped on the floor and was banging his fist against it, his laughing never ending. Roxas and Sam slapped fives and cracked up; MarXno stuck her tongue out a flabbergasted Axel." Axel growled and sprang forward, grabbing Sam by the scruff. He yanked her up onto her feet and backed her into the wall. She hit it with a thud, her eyes turning to cold steel.

"Shit, we've really done it now…"

MarX hit Demyx over the head with a pillow. "You'll only make it worse… I have an idea…" Beckoning Roxas over, the three Nobodies put their heads together and began whispering.

"Um guys? A LITTLE help over here!"

Axel drew closer to Sam. "I should have just let you die."

Sam acted injured. "_Ooohh _that one hurt! What a blow! Medic! We need medical!"

"Shut _UP_!"

"You know, if we were to kill all the people who hate you, it wouldn't be called murder, it'd be called _genocide_!"

Axel blinked, a bit taken aback. Sam saw her opportunity.

"By the way, I'll never forget the day we first met- although I keep trying!"

Axel's mouth opened, then shut, then opened again. The fire that had been forming around them was beginning to die down.

"Save your breath Axey, you'll need it to scare those heartless."

This time Axel grinned. His grip on Sam vanished. "I don't know what your problem is, kid, but I'm sure it's hard to pronounce!"

Sam grinned. "Kid? I'm three years younger than you!"  
"How old are you again?"

"Fifteen… sixteen in two days…" Sam punched Axel's arm playfully.

"You know I was just kidding about all those things, right?"

"I didn't even understand half of them… what's E.T.?"

"Ooh, we have a long way to go, people."

Suddenly a giant bucket of water appeared over Axel's head. Sam gasped and pushed against him, causing Axel to stumble against the sofa and flip over onto it.

"Oof!"

"Augh!"

Everyone turned to find Sam soaked to the bone; the bucket of water had vanished.

"_Shit_! Sorry Sam, that was for Axel!"

"MarX, she pushed him out of the way!"  
"Ooo... _Why_?"

Sam laughed and rolled her eyes. 'Cause, we just made up a second ago!"

Demyx leapt up. "You MADE OUT? I MISSED IT!"

MarX was suddenly right beside Sam. Though she was only a little bit taller than her, MarXno seemed to tower menacingly over Sam. "You listen here, stay away from him, he's _mine_!" The room grew deathly silent.

Demyx scratched his neck and leaned over to Axel. "You and MarXno are dating?"

MarXno grimaxed. "Shit, I guess that was a little loud…" Axel stared at MarXno, making her shift uncomfortably.

Trying to divert the attention from her, MarX turned to the still soaked Sam. "Uh… Here Sam, lemme' get you dry." Whipping out her book and quill, MarX wrote in her book '_And Sam became dry again_'.

"Ah, thanks, much better."

"Welcome."

Axel continued to stare at MarXno. Suddenly, a clock tower chimed, announcing noon. "Shit!" Roxas leapt to his feet and summoned a portal.

"What is it, Rox?"

"I was scheduled for the training room an hour ago!"

Demyx rolled his eyes. "So? Just take Sam somewhere else."

"But that room can modify itself to fit her specific powers!"

MarXno cut in. "Which are what again?"

"I can smell things."

"Excuse me?"  
"That's what I got from Vexen's stupid experiment, superior smell. I can smell things!"

"Give me an example."

"Hmm… the last thing you had to eat was pizza."

"Oooh, you're good! But, is that all you got?"

"You're aroused by Axel, you hate Vexen, and you recently revered from a cold."

"_Aroused_?" Axel sounded weak. Glancing at him, Demyx took a step away from his friend.

"Holy shit! How'd you know that? Sounds more like you can read my mind." MarXno said, staring hard at Sam's nose.

"No, I can smell the chemicals and hormones reacting in your body."

"Ew…. NASTY!"

"You asked!"

"So… is Axel attracted to me?"

"OK, time to go you two!" Axel walked over and pushed Roxas and Sam towards the waiting portal.

"Wait! I can do this too!" Holding out her hands, Sam summoned two keyblades: Oathkeeper and another one, mysterious to the Nobodies.

Roxas' eyes widened. "Oh! You're a keybearer too?"

"No, I gained this when I drank that potion."

"How'd you gain that from a potion?"

Sam faltered. "I don't… know…"

"Look at that blade." Demyx was closer to the sword now, gazing at it. It was long and lean, with a large white wing on the end. The teeth the individually wingtips, each one sharpened to a point. The actual body was blue and white, with green lines running along it. A visible current of air could be seen spiraling up and down the body. The metal surrounding the handle was in the shape of a heart, half blue while the other half was red. The handle itself gleamed gold and blue.

"Wow, that's amazing…" Sam smiled at Roxas, letting them all stare at her keyblades for a second longer before letting them disappear.

"We should go Rox, maybe no one is there."

Roxas nodded and waved at his friends before turning and disappearing into the portal. Sam followed him closely.

_..._

MarXno turned to Axel and Demyx. "Alright, guys. Whatta ya wanna do?"

Axel glanced at her nervously. "Uh, maybe you better go with them."

"Why?"

Axel winced, not wanting to look at her, his cheeks starting to turn red. "Er, because they need someone who can fight as- er, what I mean is-"

"Just go," Demyx cut in, winking at MarX. She grinned and followed the two keybearers into the portal, which snapped shut behind her. Demyx walked back over to the sofa and threw himself onto it, throwing a pillow at Axel. "Jeez dude, lighten up. She knows you like her!"

The pillow caught fire and burnt up before it could reach the pryo. "But _how_ can I like her? We have no emotions!"

Demyx though for a moment. "Maybe it has something to do with Sam… I think it's all connected."

"We need to question her later; I never bought that crappy excuse for a story about how she got separated from her friend."

"Right."

_..._

"Aw man! Look at all them!"  
"Calm down, Roxas! There are only three!"

"Still, I was aiming for zero of them!"

The three stood in the vast training room, looking at the three other Nobodies who were training; Saïx, Xigbar, and Marluxia. Sam smiled hesitantly. "Well, let's make the best of it. At least there's room."

MarXno nodded. "Yeah, we have plenty of room, guys. And they won't bother us. Saïx and Marxy hate us, remember?"

Sam frowned. "What do you mean _us_?"

"Oh don't worry, they'll hate you too."

"_Thanks_."  
"Yup!"

Roxas turned to Sam. "Okay, lemme see your current fighting skills."

"M'kay…" Summoning her keyblades, she crouched forward into a defense stance while Roxas stood ready, his keyblades poised at his sides. Suddenly, all was quite in the gym. The three looked nervously around them to find three other pairs of eyes glued to Sam and her keyblades. The room was awkwardly silent.

Saïx was the first to speak. "We've recruited another one of _Them_? What are we, flypaper for freaks?"

Sam growled. "Well _thanks_! MarXno stuck her tongue out at the blue haired Nobody. Saïx summoned a portal and vanished into it, mumbling something about a vacation.

Marluxia eyed Sam curiously before coming over to the group, his scythe vanishing. "Please, follow suit like the rest of your friends and _stay_ _away_ _from_ _me_." Sam blinked, surprised. What had she done to him?

Suddenly, MarXno was beside her. "Funny, it sounds like you're speaking English, but I couldn't understand a word you just said." Marluxia growled and turned, walking through a portal with a disdainful flick of his pink hair.

"Well that was gay of him. Thanks MarX."

"No prob. Hey Xiggy!"

Xigbar appeared upside beside the three. "Hey MarX; how's it going dudes?"

"Good, just came here for some training."

"Cool, same."

Xigbar's attention turned to Sam. "What's your name?"

"Ah, Maxs."

"So, you used to be Sam?"  
"Huh?"

"Before you became a Nobody; you're name was Sam, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, welcome dudette."

"Thanks!"

Suddenly a portal opened up and Zexion walked in. He blinked when he saw the group turn to look at him and back away a little, shunning the attention he received. MarXno waved. "Hey Zexion! Wazzup?"

"Uh… hi."

"Have you met the newest member of the Organization? This is Maxs."

Zexion nodded in Sam's direction. Sam, however, was staring at him surprisedly. "Wow, he really is short!"

Zexion turned red. "Wha-? Listen! I may be short, but you're ugly, and I still have time to grow!" Turning, he raced back into the portal.

Xigbar sighed and shook his head. "Great, now the little dude's gonna go all emo on us again."

Sam winced. "Sorry…"

"Nah, don't feel bad, he just has to come to terms with his height."

Roxas cleared his throat. "We should probably get back to training."

Suddenly, Axel appeared behind them, causing the group, except for Xigbar, to jump. "Actually, guys, a meeting has just been called."

MarXno frowned. "When'd you get here?"  
"Few secs ago."

"Ah…"

Axel turned back to the group. "Mansex has called a meeting, he's finally figured out about you, Sam."

"Greaaat, what's he gonna do to me?"

Axel blinked. "Huh? Nothing, he just wants to introduce you to everyone. He does it with everyone who's knew."

Roxas leaned over to whisper into Sam's ear. "Just be glad you're not a boy."

"Why?"

"Why do you think we call him 'Mansex'?"

Sam gulped, alarmed. "I-I thought it was a hilarious variation of his name!"

"Oh… that too…"

Axel re-opened a portal. "Come on Maxs, I'm supposed to take you there."

"Where's there?"

"Where Nothing Gathers? Our meeting room."

"Oh! The one with the killer chairs that are like twenty feet high?"

Axel eyes Sam, clearly confused as to how she'd know this, since they're tour yesterday had been cut short. "Uh, yeah…"

The two entered the portal, leaving the rest of the group. "See you there," called Sam. MarXno waved and smiled. Roxas grinned.

Xigbar shook his head. "Don't get lost you two!"

Axel grinned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Remember when you were new?"

Sam blinked confusedly, Axel grimaced. "What happened when Ax was new?"

"He got lost in the castle for a week! I found him out cold in Xemnas' chair in Where Nothing Gathers."

"How the hell did you get up there?"

Axel shrugged. "Alright Sa- er, Maxs, let's go."

Sam entered the portal first, letting the darkness envelope her. Her first Organization meeting! Hopefully she wouldn't fall out of the chair… or cause someone else to fall out of the chair. But the possibilities of any casualties not occurring were too high. Something bad, and equally if not more hilarious, was going to happen, she could feel it.

_..._

**Done, finally done! So it took me the rest of the day today to start and complete this chapter. As I mentioned in my other Story (The Kadaj Khronicles), it sn****owed all day yesterday, and where could I have gone today but to the computer to write? ****I was kind of bored today, as you might have picked up on, so I decided to add some jokes into this chapter. Hey, they got me laughing =p. **

**So, why can the Nobodies all of a sudden feel emotions? How does Sam know about Vexen's death, and all the other things about the Organization? It will probably all be set straight in the next chapter, people! As for MarXno, I couldn't help but put her in there, she fits so nicely with Sam and her friends. Anywho, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. I **_**do**_** own (Yay, I own something! =D) MarXno, Sam, and Taz.**

**Hope you enjoyed the story thus far guys! Remember, I forgot to ice my shin splints and wrote this all for you, people! Comments, reviews, suggestions are greatly appreciated and enjoyed! I love to see what you all think of my fanfics. So don't hesitate to click the clicky comment button! Okay… so… Peace!**

**~MarXno**

**MarXno - YES! You **_**finally**_** added me in!**

**Me ****– And if you don't shut it, I'll add you **_**out**_**!**

**MarXno - *Growls and stomps away***

**Me – Huh… well that worked!**

**MarXno - *Re-appears dragging Axel and Demyx* Kill her!**

**Axel – WHAT? You said we were going to get ice cream!**

**MarXno – We will, after you eliminate her!**

**Me – Uh, let's see here… no me, no story, no **_**you**_**, stupid!**

**MarXno – Oh… didn't think of that…**

**Me – I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself it public.**

**Demyx - But there's no one here but us.**

**Me – Think again! *Pulls rope that has mysteriously appeared in her hands. Curtain drops, revealing the whole cast of Kingdom Hearts***

**MarXno – Ah shiz.**

**Riku – *Points to MarXno* Who the hell is **_**that**_**? She wasn't in the program! **

**Me - Allow me to introduce myselves. I'm me, and she's my Nobody.**

**Sora – There's another one?**

**MarXno and Me – And what's that supposed to mean, spikey?**

**Axel – Can we **_**please**_** have ice cream now?**

**MarXno - *Ignoring Axel* Let im' have it, other self!"**

**Me – My pleasure!**

**Sora – Uh… What's happening?**

**Me – Sora… Your mother is a *beep beep beep*ing*beep*lorem ipsum*beep beep beep*admiumvenium*beep beep beep beep*turolagulio*beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep* hippopotamus*beep beep beep beep beep beep* Republican *beep beep beep* Daniel Radcliffe *beep beep beep beep* with a bucket of *beep beep beep beep* in a castle far away where no one can hear you *beep beep beep beep beep beep* soup *beep beep beep* with a bucket of *beep beep* Mickey Mouse *beep beep* with a stick of dinomite *beeeeeepppp* magical *beep beep beep beep* ALAKAZAM!**

**Demyx – Whoa**

**Riku – Well damn!**

**(I do not own Potter Puppet Pals ;) )**


	6. The Turning Point

_**The Turning Point**_

Where Nothing Gathers, or, the Round Room. Sam stepped out of the portal -which had formed off to the side, out of view of most of the members- and jumped nearly a foot into the air in surprise. Almost all of the Organization was there – save her friends- gazing down on the spot where she'd be standing in less than a minute with unwavering glares.

"Well, this is pleasant."

Axel put his arm around her protectively, making Sam blink in surprise and wonder if he was on drugs or something. Hadn't Axel wanted to beat her up only this morning?

"Aw relax; they're all just a bunch of snores that think they're important-"

"-'Cause they got really tall chairs?!"

"Er… I was going to say because they can control nobodies, but whatever lights your fire!"

"Whatever lights your…_ really _now?!"

Sam counted the chairs: thirteen in all.

"Hey Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"If there are only thirteen chairs, where are me and MarXno gonna sit?"

Axel grinned. "Well, MarXno usually just kicks Demyx out of his chair… or Roxas… And I mean _literally_ kicks them out… but sometimes she writes in her book and makes another chair appear for herself."

"Well great! But… what about me?"

"Like I said, kick someone out of their seat… just not me."

Sam giggled despite her nerves and went back to watching the Organization gather. Almost everyone was present, all except for Zexion. MarXno suddenly appeared, perched on the arm of Demyx's chair. The two were in a deep discussion, their loud voices drawing the attention from the center of the room to their chair.

Axel withdrew his arm from Sam's shoulders.

"Alright, it looks like we're about to start."

Sam turned to find his green eyes looking down at her with such intensity that she had to look away. What was wrong?

"Listen, Xemnas is very confused by your presence, and it takes a lot to get him confused! He doesn't know where another keyblade bearer would have come from, and probably wants to find out."

"So… you're saying I'm in danger?"

"Kind of… just watch what you say. Nothing too revealing about where you truly come from or who you actually are."

Sam blinked, dread filling her heart. Did Axel know where she'd come from? Had he figured it out? She wouldn't put it past him.

"Oh, and one more thing… try to act like you don't have a heart."

Sam snickered.

Axel summoned a portal and, with a final thumbs-up to Sam, stepped through. Sam saw him appear in his seat a second later.

"So _that's_ how they get up there… I could do that all day!"

Suddenly Xemnas spoke, though Sam couldn't see him. She cringed at his voice; it had always annoyed her.

"Let this meeting commence. Friends, I wish to inform you of another, one who will be honored enough to don our coat."

Sam drew her hood up, then let it flop back into place. Should she wear it up or down? At least half of the Organization knew what she looked like, so why bother trying to conceal herself?

Xemnas continued.

"A week ago we accepted number XV."

From her spot perched on Demyx's chair arm, Sam heard MarXno cheer.  
"Oh yeah! Thank you, thank you! No applause, really…"

"Now, we welcome number XVI to our ranks."

Taking a breath, Sam walked calmly into the circle of thrones, her Converse barley making a sound on the floor. She felt the Organization's stares on her back, her front, her face. Unconsciously, Sam wondered if her blond hair, which she'd braided quickly back before she'd gone off to train with Roxas, was coming undone. She hadn't really taken her time with it, due to her nervousness.

She stood there, gazing undauntedly up at the other members. She caught Demyx's eye, and he gave her a smile. MarXno winked and nudged Demyx playfully. Losing his balance, Demyx caught himself just before he fell off of his seat. Roxas gave a small grin, Axel rolled his eyes.

Sam felt new courage roll back into her.

"Number XVI, you know what's expected of you."

"Uh… I do?"

This caused Xemnas to blink. A few of the other Organization members snickered, some glared harder at Sam.

"I would have hoped that someone would have taken it into thought to inform you of it."

"Well, they did. Or at least, they tried to. But it was about as much use as a trapdoor in a lifeboat."

This time, a few of the Organization laughed, including Sam's friends. Xemnas, however, remained frowning from his high position.

"Who was it that attempted to inform you?"

"I'll give ya a hint. They've got her picture at a hospital, and it saves using the stomach pump."

"_MarXno_!"

MarX stood up on the chair arm and turned to glare at Marluxia. She summoned her book and quill and began writing like crazy, cackling madly once or twice.

Marluxia gulped. "Oh… my… flower petals."

Suddenly a giant bucket of black liquid appeared over his head and tipped, washing the black hair dye all over him.

"WAAGH!!!!

"Wait, I'm not done!" Leaping epically from Demyx's chair to Axel's and then over Marluxia's, MarXno summoned her spear, grabbed Marluxia by the hair, and swung…

"MY HAIR!"

Summoning a portal, MarXno appeared back on Demyx's seat as Marluxia felt around his head. His once beautiful hair had been transformed to an emo-boy's haircut. Zexion, who'd suddenly appeared in his chair looking fairly sullen, looked around himself nervously at the strange scene that was unfolding. Sam smiled and pointed at Marluxia's hair. "Hey, now you look like Zexion!" Both Marluxia and Zexion grabbed their heads in exasperation.

"I'M NOT AN EMO!"

"I'M NOT GAAAAY!"

Everyone turned to look at Marluxia. "Uh, where did that come from? No one ever said anything about you being gay… today… I don't think… Did someone?" Marluxia glared at Axel before disappearing in a portal, followed closely by Zexion. "Yes, now we have seats!"

Rushing into a portal that someone, probably Axel, had summoned for her, Sam claimed Zexion's seat, which was located higher off the ground than most. MarXno glared at her before scribbling something in her book. The dye splattered all over Marluxia's seat disappeared, and in its place was MarX. Xemnas raised his arms and all grew quiet. Some of the older Nobodies were staring angrily down at MarX and Sam. The rest were trying desperately to holdback laughter. Sam briefly hoped that no one had really noticed that she hadn't summoned the portal, because, well, she couldn't, she wasn't an actual Nobody, after all…

"Number XVI-!"  
"-It's Maxs!"

"Maxs… I do not have time for your small attempts at jokes."

Sam huffed. She was tired of this guy already.

"_You're_ a joke!"

A small chorus of "ooohs" circulated the room, followed by MarXno yelling: "Hey Vexen, can you get Xemnas some ice for his burn?" This brought more laughter to the younger members, and deeper frowns to the oldies that were more loyal to Xemnas. Xemnas, fully annoyed, raised a hand for silence. "This meeting is finished. Dismissed!" MarXno raised her hand. "I have a question."

"What number XV?"

"This room… it's called Where Nothing Gathers, correct?"

"Indeed."

"So… if it's called Where Nothing Gathers… then why the hell do we _gather_ here?!" Sam picked up on MarX's thoughts. "Yeah, it's really uncreative, for a bunch of guys who, ya know, made a puppet who could…" The room grew silent and cold. Everyone turned to stare at Sam, surprise etched on their faces as to how she would know about Xion. Wincing at her stupidity, Sam looked to MarXno for help. MarX wasted no time in bailing her out. "And another thing! How come the Hall of Empty Melodies is called the Hall of Empty Melodies? I mean, Demyx here is always playing his Sitar in their!" Axel jumped in quickly. "It's because his melodies are so empty and boring, MarX."

"Ah!"

"HEY! My melodies are BEAUTIFUL!"

Roxas snickered.

"Sure, sure… just keep telling yourself that…"

"ROXAS!"

By this time, most of the older members had disappeared into portals. Now only Sam, her friends, Larxene, Xigbar, and Luxord remained. Axel leaned forward a bit. "So Maxs… who was it that has a picture in the hospital and saves people from using the stomach pump?"

"Huh? Oh, Larxene, of course!"

Sam almost jumped out of her seat when a bolt of lightening struck close to her. Whirling around, she found Larexene glaring, enraged, at her.

"Oh damn, you done it now!"  
"Shut it, Demyx!"

Leaping out of her seat, Sam summoned her keyblades and, landing poised to fight on the floor, beckoned to Larxene. The blond Nobody, already engulfed in a portal, suddenly appeared in front of Sam. Bolts of lighting were dancing around her, some occasionally zapping close to Sam. Sniffing the air, Sam grimaced. "I smell… I smell… fury… hatred… and oh…" Leaning in closer, Sam snickered. "You've got your monthly gift."

Letting out a shriek of rage, Larxene leapt for Sam, pinning her to the ground easily. Summoning her knives, she slashed downwards at Sam, who raised her keyblade, parrying the attack. Swinging her other keyblade around, Sam managed to catch Larxene's head with the end of the metal sword, causing the Nobody to slacken her grip. Wriggling free, Sam flipped backwards, kicked herself off of one of the chairs pedestals, and flew at Larxene, swinging her keyblade fiercely. It made contact… with one of Larxene's antennas. The keyblade easily sliced it off, leaving the Savage Nymph looking like a lopsided grasshopper.

Stopping mid-attack, Larxene raised her hand to feel for her antenna.

"Where… where is it?! … What… Have… You… DONE?!"

The only thing that stopped Larxene from charging at Sam was Xigbar, who'd appeared suddenly behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, he managed to keep her in place. Sam, sensing her chance, leapt towards Larxene… but was stopped by someone grabbing onto her coat.

"Ah! Who? Hey! Axel! Lemme' go!"

"Nooo way, as much as I'd like a world without Larxene, Xemnas would kill _us_ if you killed _her_."

"I don't care, lemme' AT HER!"

Axel sighed and picked up Sam and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her into a portal he'd just summoned. Xigbar still held onto a struggling Larxene. Sam, unable to get free of Axel's iron grip, did the only thing she could possibly think of.

"Hey Larxene!"

The Nobody looked up and glared at her, growling between her teeth as she struggled to get free.

"Yo Mama's so ugly that when she was a baby they stuck her in a corner and fed her with a slingshot!" Larxene paused, clearly taken aback, then began to struggle harder. "And another thing, you _grasshopper_! Yo mama so poor that when I stepped on a cigarette she cried "hey, who turned off the heater?'!" Xigbar's hold on the enraged Nobody began to slip as she writhed, completely infuriated. "Did yo momma give you that haircut, or was the stylist a bug?!" Axel had just entered the portal with Sam when Larxene broke free. Brandishing her knives, she charged, running full speed at Sam, who, being restrained by Axel, unable to defend herself, completely lost it.

"Ho-LY SHIT! AXEL! SHUT THE PORTAL! SHUT THE PORTAL! Do it NOW!"

Thin lines of darkness began to swirl around Sam as the portal shut, but Larxene was still barreling towards them at a terrific speed.

"We're all gonna DIE! The world is ENDING! Oh Lord, I didn't mean what I said! Her momma's smart, the next Einstein! And pretty! Well… maybe not so much…"

Suddenly she was engulfed in darkness, and the next thing she knew Sam was lying gasping on hard ground. Sitting up, she looked around herself. She was in an alley, a little similar to the one she'd found Demyx in the night she'd fallen into the game. _Into the game_… it was hard to remember things like that, things from the outside world; her world. Clutching her head, Sam gasped. She couldn't really remember what had happened that day… or the day before that… and the day before that. She was forgetting! Who'd she been looking for all this time? Who was she so worried about again? Ta… Ta… Sam felt tears creep into her eyes. She could remember him perfectly, every detail of his face… but she'd forgotten her best friends name.

A footstep sounded behind her, and Sam looked up to see Axel and MarXno in front of her. Looking around a little more, Sam found Demyx and Roxas lounging on empty crates that were packed against the dirty walls of the alley.

"Sam?"

Looking up, Sam found MarXno's sympathetic face closer to hers.

"Yeah?"  
"We… We have some questions for you."

This confused her. Questions? About what, exactly?

"Okay… shoot."

This time, however, Axel spoke. His voice was a lot harder than MarX's. It had an edge to it. "Where are you really from? And let's not hear about some town who worships us again, ok?"

Sam gasped quietly. They'd figured it out!

***

Sliding her back up against the wall shakily, Sam sighed. "Well, I didn't really want to lie to you guys… I'm sorry I did-"

"-But why did you?"

Sam looked up and felt a pang in her heart. Demyx's face looked so hurt, so full of betrayal. "I- I didn't think you'd believe me. I guess I thought that if I told you the truth, you wouldn't help me. Wouldn't… wouldn't be my friends." Even as she said the words, Sam knew how corny they sounded. Of course they'd of helped her! Of course they'd have been her friends. "You'd think I was crazy if you knew." She whispered, her head down, avoiding their gazes, which she could feel penetratingly on her.

Suddenly, she felt an arm around her waist, and looked up surprisedly to find Demyx sitting beside her. He had a faint smile on his lips. "Tell us, we promise we won't think anything different of you." Encouraged by this promise, and by Demyx sitting comfortingly beside her, Sam opened up.

"It was three days ago. I got home from school with my friend… my friend…"

"Taz," offered Demyx. Sam smiled up at him.

"Yes, Taz. We were going to play a game."

Roxas, who'd orbited closer to hear, spoke up. "What kind of game?"

"Not a game that you're thinking of. This game is for the TV, a video game. We were going to play… er…"

"Go on," MarXno's voice was encouraging and soft.

"We were going to play Kingdom Hearts 2."

The silence in the alley was unbearable for her. Burying her head in her arms, Sam continued, though she could feel the surprise radiating off of everyone. What was worse, though, was that thanks to Vexen's potion, she could _smell_ it, the shock, incredibly well.

"But when I turned on the game, we were sucked in. I remember falling, and a town was below me. I- I saw things. I saw different moments in the game; people, things, a strange place. I heard things. I heard people fighting. I heard a sword, and then… I felt this pain here." Pointing to where her wound had been, Sam raised her head to look at her friends. "Then I blacked out, and woke up in Twilight Town… and Demyx found me."

There was silence, nothing but silence. A slight wind blew, causing a few loose strands of Sam's hair to blow into her face. She peeked a closer look at her friends. Axel was lost in thought; it appeared, while MarXno and Roxas were just staring at each other blankly. Demyx hugged her tighter, but she could smell his confused emotions. She could smell them all.

Finally, Demyx spoke breaking the ongoing silence. "So… we're all in a game?"

"Yes."

"Cool!"

Everyone turned to look at him, but Demyx only shrugged. "What? Just because we're in a game doesn't mean we're not alive! I'm breathing right now, I need air to breath! I can think, too, so I must have a brain."

Axel nodded. "This game… it must be the link to another world."

"What?!" Sam couldn't hold back her surprise. "You think this is actually another world?! You guys, we're all in a _game_. A game that people all over the world, my world, buys and loves and adores!" Sam gently unhooked herself from Demyx and stood up.

"You guys, this can't be another world."

"And why not," Axel crossed his arms.

"Because… it's a- a game."

"So?"

"_So_-"

"-So what? So if this were a game, wouldn't we all be doing whatever we were supposed to be doing at the spot you loaded it? Wouldn't we all be mindless, brainless pieces of digital memory? Wouldn't the members who are supposed to be dead, such as Vexen, not be here anymore? This isn't a game; it's a world, Sam."

Sam gulped, he had a point. Wouldn't Vexen and Zexion and Larxene, the members of the Organization who'd died in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, not be here; this was Kingdom Hearts 2! And wouldn't Axel have remembered how he killed Vexen? Which _was_ pretty funny… There was MarXno to think about, too. She was a newer member to Organization 13, one that clearly had not been in any of the games… But what about _Xion_?

"Xion, what about her?"

Axel shrugged. "She ran off, didn't want to be a part of the Organization anymore."

"What, so she didn't die?!"

"Uh, _no_. Why would she die?!"  
"Isn't she a part of Sora?"

"Yeah… but puppets can be altered."

"You… you altered her?"

"No, Vexy did. He made her replicate a random person."

"WHAT?!"

"What? She's fine!"

Sam clutched her head in exasperation. So here she was, stuck between wondering if this was an actual world, or if it was just a game. Could it be possible that there were other worlds out there? That Earth wasn't alone? Besides, how'd she fall into a _game_? Sam shivered; something about this discussion unnerved her. If this was another world, then how big could it be? Where could Taz have gotten to? _Anything_, anything could happen. That wasn't good, he could get killed; he could be dead!

Suddenly, Sam wanted nothing more than for her and Taz to be back in her living room. She clung desperately to the hope of her first theory, of it still being a game.

"No, you guys, we must be in a game."

"How can you think that-"

"-People dress up as you three!" Sam cried, pointing at the three guys around her.

"People buy dolls of you three! You guys got your voices from voice actors! People designed your clothes and your weapons and how you look!" Sam was on a roll now, not caring how bizarre this must've sounded to the rest of them. "You guys aren't real! Well… you are, but… LOOK! I was nine years old when I started playing the first Kingdom Hearts. I've known about you guys for years, save MarXno. I know how each of you behaves; I know how each of you _dies_!"

That single word, "dies", rang out clearly in the darkening sky. Sam found herself the center of everyone's stares. She could hear the questions pounding in their heads, smell their growing adrenaline. But why in heaven and hell combined would she ever announce that they'd died. And that she, in fact, knew how.

Axel was the first one to recover. "How?"

"How…?"

"How do we _DIE_?!"

Sam winced and flinched back.

"I don't want to tell you."

Suddenly Demyx was close beside her. "Please," his eyes were pleading. "Please tell? We might be able to prevent it."

Sam felt her eyes well up before she gave way. "No, no you won't. You, Dem, Sora kills you. Ax, you commit suicide to save Sora. And Roxas… I think you might already know that Sora is your Somebody. You rejoin with him at the end of the game."

More silence. Stunned silence. A dark silence. Sam sank to her knees suddenly and clutched at her chest, a low moan escaping her lips. The pain that had suddenly erupted through her was horrible. It was like someone had placed a bomb in her heart and it'd gone off, but she'd survived. She groaned and collapsed, grabbing at her chest where her heart was, her breathing hard and ragged.

Demyx gasped and knelt down beside her, unsure of what to do. Finally, he pulled her pained form into his arms and held her, so she wouldn't be lying on the ground. Roxas drew closer to Sam, while Axel looked around, watching to see if anyone had noticed them. MarXno quickly knelt down beside the struggling girl and summoned her book.

"MarXno, can't you do something? Write something down in your book! Make her pain stop!" The girl shook her head, helpless. "I-I can't! I can't do that! I don't know what kind of pain she's in, first of all. And if I just wrote down 'and the pain stopped', who knows what could happen! I need to be more specific. Besides, I don't know what's wrong with her. If I knew, then I could perhaps heal her, instead of just making the pain stop…"

She caught Roxas's eye and gazed at him for a moment.

"Roxas."

"Yes?"  
"Do you know what I'm about to ask you to do?" The young boy's eyes widened a little, but he just swallowed and nodded.

"Do it."

"You'll be fine; it'll just last for a few seconds."

"I'm ready."

Axel watched suspiciously as Roxas braced himself. Braced himself for _what_? "Marxno, what are you doing?"

The Nobody didn't answer. Writing quickly in her book, she paused before finishing the sentence and looked up at Roxas. "Remember, remember how it feels exactly. It is so incredibly _vital_, Roxas, that you know what's bothering her and how it feels."

"I will."

MarXno sighed, pain in her eyes, and finished her sentence. Almost exactly after she'd drawn a period, Roxas let out a gasp and sank down next to Axel, clutching his chest. Upset and confused as to what was going on, Axel caught his friend and looked up at MarXno. "What'd you do to him?!"

She sighed. "I need to know what MarXno's pain level is, to see how severe her condition. And, I need to know what's bothering her… so I can maybe heal her."

"But what about _him_? Now they're both in trouble!"

MarXno shook her head. "No, he's not. I simply wrote that he'd experience every detail of her pain for a good five seconds."

Suddenly, Roxas was back. He slumped weakly in Axel's grasp, breathing heavy. From where Demyx sat with Sam, there came a low, pained moan. MarXno moved closer to Roxas. "Roxas? Dude you ok?" Nodding slightly, Roxas managed to stand up. "Her-it- it burned. But that's not it. It felt like it was being blown into pieces; like it was being torn apart."

MarXno frowned. "What's _it_?"

Roxas looked down at Sam. "It… Her heart."

Axel breathed in sharply. "You felt it? The heart, I mean." Roxas nodded. MarXno was already scribbling in her book, crossing things out here and there and adding revised edits. Finally, she scribbled a small period at the end of her elaborate sentence and let her book disappear. "Well, that's all I can do."

Sam's whimpering had subsided, and her grip on her chest had slackened. She let out a sigh and fainted in Demyx's arms. Suddenly, Demyx started. "Do- do you guys feel that?"

Axel frowned. "Feel what, Dem?"

"_That_, right- right here." Demyx nodded in the direction of his chest, to the left.

"No-?"

"-Yeah, yeah I do… whoa… that's strange…" Axel turned to stare at Roxas, who was looking down at the ground, his brow furrowed. "Do you feel it MarXno?"

"Yeah, I do."

"What are you guys _talking_ about?!"

MarXno came up gently beside him and pointed to his chest, where his heart would be. "Ax, we can feel… we have emotions."

"_What_?!"

"You can't feel them?"

Axel gazed bewilderedly around at his friends. "No I can't feel them! How can you feel it?! You guys don't have hearts!"

Demyx shook his head, gazing down at Sam softly. "I- I dunno."

"We don't have hearts…" MarX was up, pacing. "We don't have hearts… but Sam… she does!" Suddenly MarXno was shouting. "Don't you guys see?! Sam, how her heart was burning her! How it felt like it was being cut into pieces! Her heart gave us emotions!"

MarXno's voice rebounded off the brick buildings, causing it to echo. Axel and Demyx caught each others eyes. "So, how come I don't feel anything?" MarXno cut him off, excited. "I'm not finished yet! I _know_ why! Demyx, he felt it first, and no doubt feels it the strongest because he's the closest to Sam, both mentally… well, emotionally I guess you could say… and physically! Then came Roxas, then me, then you!"

Axel checked his position… he _was_ far away from her. And he hadn't treated Sam very nicely since her arrival… well, besides today, _maybe_… But there was still something… "Wait, what do you mean when you say that Demyx is closest to her emotionally?"

MarXno sighed and walked over to Axel. Motioning for him to bend down, she whispered something in his ear.

"He WHAT?! That's impossible! He can't feel!"

MarXno held up a finger. "But now he can…"

Roxas and Demyx exchanged looks. "I don't wanna know." Demyx murmered, shifting Sam's body so that she'd be more comfortable. Looking around him, he frowned. "Where are we, anyways?"

"Hollow Bastion."

"Why?"  
Axel sighed. "Because I wanted a place where we wouldn't be overheard."

"So you picked _here_?"

"Yeah, why?"

Demyx shifted uncomfortably. "Nothing, it's just… Leon and them don't really like us… at _all_."

"So, who cares what they think?"

"Uh, I think we should!"

Axel raised his eyebrows at Roxas. Suddenly, he caught his friend's eyes, filled with horror. Whipping around, Axel found himself face to face with a glaring Leon. Putting on his best sarcastic tone, Axel folded his arms. "Oh joy, if it isn't the welcoming committee, here to bombard us with hugs and kisses."

Behind Leon was Yuffie, and behind her was Cid. Off to the side stood Merlin, his sleeves already rolled up. Leon spoke first, ignoring Axel. "What do you want here? We thought we chased you out a while ago."

MarXno grinned and stepped forward. "Yeah… We tried to stay away but… this horrible town kept on pulling us back!" Suddenly her grin dropped and she sneered, her features turning deadly. "What the hell, you think we'd _want_ to come back here and bug you creeps? Just shove off, we weren't bothering you."

Leon blinked, surprised at her tone. "Who are you, again? I don't remember seeing you here last time." MarXno gave him the evil eye before shaking her head and rolling up her sleeves and summoning her book quickly. "Oh… you are _so_ going to get it scar face!"

Roxas suddenly leapt in between MarX and Leon and snatched away MarX's quill.

"Hey! Gimme' back my-"  
"-No! Listen, no fighting, any of you! Let me speak first!" Pointing the quill at both of them menacingly, he backed away, throwing MarXno back her quill, which was a little bent up. "Now then… Leon, guys, listen. Our friend is hurt, real bad, I think." Motioning over to where Sam lay, passed out in Demyx's arms, Roxas continued. "She's new, real new, and she never did anything bad to anybody… well… maybe except Larxene, but, she doesn't really count…"

Sensing that Roxas was getting sidetracked, Demyx picked up for his friend. "What Roxas is trying to say is, can you just please help her? We'll do whatever you say, just help her out."

Leon sighed and turned to look at his friends. Yuffie and Cid exchanged glances before looking over at Merlin. The three of them nodded at Leon. "Alright!" he said, sounding a little annoyed. "But you four… go back to where you belong." Axel shrugged, and was about to open a portal when Demyx cut in. "No!"

"You said you'd do whatever I say. I'm not having you around to menace the town again!" Suddenly Yuffie placed her hand on Leon's shoulder. She'd been gazing at Demyx, who still cradled Sam off of the ground. She whispered in his ear, so only he could hear. "Leon, we can't do that. Look… he loves her. Don't split them up."

Leon rolled his eyes and turned away, thinking hard. Demyx brushed a strand of hair out of Sam's face. Axel eyeballed Demyx. MarXno eyeballed Roxas, still trying to straighten her feather quill. Roxas gazed intently at Leon.

"Find." Leon muttered, turning around. "But the first sign of trouble, we'll leave her, I swear." Demyx nodded, standing up slowly, still holding Sam. Leon beckoned to the group of friends, turned, and disappeared from the alley, followed by Merlin and Cid. Yuffie waited until the Organization members had past, and then brought up the rear.

Groaning, Axel slouched after Leon. MarXno snickered and patted his back, knowing how he hated being in another person's debt. Roxas walked beside Demyx, calmly gazing around him. Demyx blushed a little when they passed a group of teens, probably his age, hanging out. The group stopped what they were doing and stared at the strange procession. Another emotion, he'd blushed, he was, what, shy?! Demyx looked down into Sam's face and wasn't sure what he felt. It was a mixture of… happiness and something else, something better than happiness. _Love_, he thought.

***

"_Sammy?"_

"_Taz!"_

"_Sam! Where are you?"_

"_I-I don't really know right now… I was in an alley, but then my heart hurt, and I fainted…"_

"_Fainted?! Are you ok?!"_

"_Yeah, yeah I guess. Don't worry, please. But… where are you?"_

"_Hollow Bastion."_

"_Are you ok?"  
"Uh, about that, Sam… You see, I- I'm-"_

"_Taz? TAZ! You're a _what_?"_

_..........._

"_Taz …Don't go, please… I'm… fa…d…in…g..."_

**D-O-N-E! Yay! Lol, I started this morning and ended at night! I actually was on a KH high, 'cause you see, I beat 358/2 Days today and was starving for more… Then I accidentally deleted my game (=(…)… Anywho! I don't own anyone/anything from Kingdom Hearts… but I do own Sam (AKA Maxs), MarXno, and Taz. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I think it's the longest I've ever written… so yeah! And thanks so, so much to everyone who has favorited and commented, it seriously makes my day, no my week! Alright, Merry [belated] Xmas… and Hanukkah… and Kwanza… and every other holiday… and Happy New Year, guys! Peace!**

**~ MarXno**

**Sam – Awww, I got hurt again!**

**Demyx – And I have Eeeeee-moooooooo-tions!**

**Sam – Are you really referencing a song right now?!**

**Demyx – Uh… yes?**

**Axel – And how come I didn't get any Eeee-motions?!**

**Sam – Uh… first come first serve?**

**Axel –EH! Wrong!**

**MarXno – Look, Ax, let's face it. You started at the bottom, and it's been downhill ever since…**

**Axel – WHAT?! Where the hell did you come from?!**

**MarXno – Uhnn… Well, my mother and father decided-**

**Axel - -NO! That's not what I meant!**

***Demyx, Sam, and Marxno exchange glances. Roxas pops out of nowhere and pretends he knows what's going on***

**Sam – Hey Axel?**

**Axel - *Tiredly* What? Oh- Oh NO!**

**Sam - Yo mamma so old that in the back seat of your car, kids don't say 'Are we there yet', they scream, 'Is she Dead yet?!'**

**Demyx - Yo mama so poor she waves around a Popsicle stick and calls it air conditioning.**

**MarXno - Yo mama so fat people jog around her for exercise!**

**Roxas – Uh… Oh! Right! Yo mama so fat when her beeper goes off, people think she's backing up!**

**Demyx – Sam, take it away!**

**Axel – I'm-**

**Sam – Yo mama so fat she fell in love and broke it!**

**Axel - -Going-**

**Sam – Yo mama so fat when she wears a yellow raincoat people say "Taxi!"!**

**Axel – To-**

**Sam – Yo mama so fat they use the elastic in her underwear for bungee jumping!**

**Axel - KILL-**

**Sam – Yo mama so fat when she got hit by a bus, she said, "Who threw that rock?"!**

**Axel – YOU!!!**

**Sam – Oh shit! Run, he's gonna blooowww!**

***Everyone scampers away… Axel explodes… and blows up the stage…**

**Me – AXEEELLL!**

**Axel – Oh, **_**shit**_**…**

**MarXno – Yeah me! Get em'!**

**Me – I'd probably start running now… quickly…**

**Axel – Right… *starts sprinting***

**Me – *Tosses lemonade to MarXno and pulls out a lounge chair* That should keep them all gone for a while.**

**MarXno – What about me?**

**Me - Oh, you're a nobody**

**MarXno – Aw…**


	7. Waffles

**Waffles, Head Bumps, and BWR**

Demyx leaned forward, putting his ear to Sam's heart. It beat faster, most likely because it had just been split into four, and needed to work harder. From his spot on the couch behind Demyx, Axel snickered. Frowning, Demyx turned his head slightly so that he could eye his friend.

"What?"

Axel shook his head. "Dude, how do you _not_ feel awkward in that position?"

Demyx blinked and thought about what Axel had just said…

"What position? What are you talking about, Ax?"

Axel slapped his forehead. "Do I have to spell it out for you?! You're _ear_ is _listening_ to her _boob_! Got it memor- Y'know, I can't even say my line! It's just too weird after a statement like that!"

Exasperated, Axel turned over and buried his spikey head into one of the couch's pillows.

Demyx frowned.

"You have a point."

Axel huffed, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"_Yeah_."

Demyx put his concentration back on Sam's heart, his concern for her overriding his embarrassment and… awkward… feelings…

"Her heart…" He mumbled to himself, trying to understand better what had just happened. If her heart had given them emotions, then did she have any left? Was she going to _live_ after something like this? Axel raised his head.

"How does it sound?"

"…Faster…"

"Well duh! It's gotta make up for what it's lost!"

"Given! What it's _given_!" Demyx corrected, earning another groan from Axel.

Slapping his head back into the pillow, Axel huffed.

"I still don't feel much emotion!"

Demyx snickered.

"What can I say, you were jipped!"

"Well _thanks_! It's good to know I can count on you to make me feel better, waterboy!"

"You're welcome, glad I could help firebutt!"

Axel growled.

Suddenly, the door to the room banged open, revealing MarXno and Yuffie, who were in the middle of an enthusiastic discussion on fighting techniques, MarXno munching passionately on a bowl of Ninja O's ( - If you don't know what I mean about her eating her cereal "_passionately_", then just watch your local fat kid eating cake -_- -). Yuffie was the first to notice the strange scene. Stopping mid-sentence, she stared, mouth open, unsure how to react. MarXno frowned.

"Uh Yuffie? _Yelllooo_?! What's up?"

Pushing a huge spoonful of cereal into her mouth, she followed the ninja's gaze… and found the scarring sight of Demyx with his ear plastered to Sam's chest.

In her surprise Sam swallowed her cereal without chewing and began to choke. Falling over, she twitched on the ground as everyone else stared at Demyx and Sam, who was still unconscious. Suddenly Axel burst out laughing, falling off of the couch and onto the floor in a heap. He pointed at Demyx, whose face was plastered with surprise, then at Yuffie, who was in utter shock, then at MarXno, who was choking on the floor. It wasn't until MarX was blue in the face that Axel got up, still laughing, and slouched over to her, picked her up, and preformed the Heimlich. He finally unlodged the cereal, and MarXno spat it out… all over Leon, who'd come up behind them quietly. He blinked pointedly as food was sprayed all over him.

"You got any milk for this?!" He asked annoyedly, wiping his face free from cereal. Suddenly, Cloud, who'd been walking down the hall towards Leon and the rest of them, tripped and sent his bowl of cereal flying. It floated through the air, landing upside down on Leon's head. Leon simmered.

"Of _course_ he would trip over _air_!"

Cloud shrugged and picked a Ninja-O off of Leon, popping it into his mouth. He shook his head and sighed.

"I freakin' _love_ Ninja O's…"

Cloud pulled another bowl of cereal out of… _nowhere_… and starting munching happily, oblivious to the scene in front of him.

Yuffie and MarXno flipped out at the same time.

"OH. MY. _GOD_"

"WHAT THE _HELL_?

"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

"WHY _THAT_ BOOB?!"

"_MARX_!"

"_SORRY_! …_still_, it's a valid question!"

"MARXNO!"

MarXno shrugged sheepishly at the weirded out stares everyone gave her and, turning, snatched at Cloud's Ninja O's. The unsuspecting blondie was mid-bite when his bowl was whisked away. He frowned.

"Hey, that was mine! Gimme it back!"

MarXno snickered. "Or _what_?"

"MarX, don't tempt him! He'll go into "Hero Mode"."

MarXno raised an eyebrow at Yuffie.

"Oh yeah? Hmm… Hey Cloud, watch this!"

Picking up a Ninja O, MarXno brought it up to her mouth. Her tongue slowly extended. Cloud froze, his face turning red.

"I swear on Aerith's grave, MarXno, if you lick it I'll kill you!"

MarXno's eyes narrowed, but she kept on going. Cloud let loose what sounded like monkey being strangled and took a step forward, held back only by Leon's restraining arm. Suddenly, the tip of MarXno's tongue touched the Ninja O, and with a huge, evil grin she popped the cereal bit into her mouth and chewed noisily. The room was silent, everyone frozen (including Demyx, in his very… _strange_… position…) to the spot. _Then_…

"I'M GONNA FREAKIN' _KILL_ YOU!"

Cloud whipped out a giant sword, gleaming with blue energy. Leon braced himself, preparing to hold Cloud away from MarXno. MarX's smug smile slid down her face and dropped to the floor.

"Where the _hell_ did he pull that from?!"

Axel snickered. "He probably pulled it out of his-"

"-AXEL!" Shouted MarXno, grossed out.

"_What_?! I was gonna say sword holder! He has one on his back… What'd you think I- OH EW! SICKO!"

Cloud let loose a savage cry and leapt forward at MarXno, preparing to squash anyone who was in his way (Leon -_-) to get to her.

Yuffie groaned. "Now you've done it! I haven't seen him this hero…_ish…_ since he fought off that rubber duckie in the bathtub… _yeah_… no more hidden cameras, Merlin, bad idea…"

Leon sighed as he prepared himself to be squashed alive. Suddenly, a thought came to him… a _really_ obvious one…

_Wait a minute… Why am I trying to protect the _bad_ guys?! _They're_ the reason my newly shampooed hair is such a wreck… and other horrible things, too, but… now I'll have to 'poo it all over again_!

Leon's eyes filled with tears as he felt his ruined, cereal filled hair. Stepsiding Cloud at the last second, Leon watched as he barreled right into Axel, missing MarXno completely. The two of them shot across the room, over Demyx and Sam, and crashed through the window, a shower of glass following them. From outside Axel groaned.

"Oww_www_! You _missed_! You freakin' missed! _I_ am _not_ MARXNO!"

"Yeah?!" yelled Cloud. "Well, you're friends with her, right?!"

"Yeah, so?!"

"So that's GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!"

Leon, Yuffie, MarXno, Demyx, and Sam watched as Axel leapt up and ran away, screaming, as Cloud, who had an aura of blue around him now, grabbed his sword off of the ground and chased after the pyro.

Axel's screams could be heard in the distance.

"MOMM_YYYYYY_!"

MarXno shook her head. "Man, _nothing's_ going right for us today. We had to sit through a boring meeting, had to learn some, er… disturbing news, Sam got hurt, Axel got chased and… er… humiliated, Demyx got caught feelin' Sam up, _and_ Sam's awake…"

MarXno froze.

"_Sam's awake_… _Oh_ boy."

Everyone froze. Demyx, almost too scared to move, lifted his head from Sam's chest… to find her glaring directly at him, a look of utter madness in her eyes.

"Uh, hi Sa-"

"-_What_… the _hell_… do you think you're _doing_?"

Demyx's mind went blank. "I-uh…. surprise?!"

Sam growled. "I'm not _feelin'_ it! …But apparently _YOU_ are!"

Demyx gulped. "This is not what it looks like!"

Sam growled harder.

MarXno winced. "_Oooh_, she is _not_ happy! Nope, not happy _at_ _all_…"

MarXno, Leon, and Yuffie all glanced nervously at each other…

"Anyone up for waffles?"

"I'll make toast!"

"My hair needs to be 'pooed again…"

Leon winced at the looks Yuffie and MarXno gave him.

"I mean… sounds great! Let's go!"

The two girls were already gone, the kitchen door snapping shut behind them.

"Oh _sure_." Leon grumbled, and stomped off after them, leaving Demyx alone with Sam, who was getting scarier by the second.

"_Help_." Squeaked Demyx, backing away from her rapidly.

Sam sat up slowly and swung her legs off of the bed.

"I would run."

Demyx nodded. "Yes ma'am! _Running_!"

Springing towards the door, Demyx raced down the hallway, heading for the safety of cowering behind Leon in the kitchen.

"RUN, RUN AWAY!"

He would have made it, too, if he wouldn't have tripped over air and ker-splatted himself all over the hallway floor.

"_Owwwww_! Owa owa owa owa oooowwww!"

Sam snickered and walked down the hallway, stepping on the splat that was Demyx in the process, and called into the kitchen. "Are there any waffles for me?!"

Yuffie called back. "Yeah, just a few!"

"Great! Save em' before Leon gets hungry again!" Sam yelled, jogging into the kitchen.

Demyx raised his hand off the ground, trying to grab an unseen waffle for himself.

"Waffle." He moaned, then his head smacked the floor and he was out cold.

From the kitchen Sam yelled. "I think you're gonna need to get a cleaning crew in the hallway, it's _nasty_ in there!"

***

Demyx groaned and rolled over onto his back, staring fuzzily up at the ceiling. His head throbbed and he was slightly dizzy. What had happened again? He groaned as pain flashed through his head, and shut his eyes, trying to stop the room from spinning. Hesitantly he sat up, looking around slowly. Through a window moonlight streamed basking him in a cold radiance. There wasn't a sound in Leon's house; no one was to be seen. Even on the streets outside, not a soul stirred. The moon was full in the sky.

Demyx shuddered, an emotion flooding into his heart that he'd never felt before. Shifting so that his back was leaning against the wall, Demyx gazed out of the window at the lonely street. The last thing he recalled was waffles… It'd been midmorning when he'd blacked out, and aside from Axel, him, and Cloud, everyone had gone to have breakfast: waffles and toast. So… where _was_ everyone? The house was completely still.

The emotion within him grew and he looked around uneasily. Uneasiness; fear. That was what it was. Demyx leaned his head back as the room began to spin even more and sat around for a while. He blinked, trying to clear the fuzziness out of his mind. He must have hit his head pretty hard, he figured, if he was _still_ dizzy. Suddenly, his stomach grumbled loudly and he groaned, holding his sides.

"How long has it been since I ate?"  
"Six hours, eleven minutes, five point six seconds… seven seconds… eight seconds…"

Demyx jumped half a foot into the air as Axel's voice sounded next to him.

_Damn! How does he sneak up on people like that?!_

Looking up, Demyx found his friend standing beside him, arms crossed boredly. Behind him, a dark portal was closing up, tendrils of black dancing away into nothingness around the pyro.

Demyx frowned. _Oh… _That's_ how he does it… Huh… never though of that… Owowowowow!_

The Nobody winced and rubbed his throbbing head.

_It hurts to think._

"How do _you_ know how long it's been since I've eaten?!"

Axel shrugged. "After you nearly converted to cannibalism-"

"-WHAT?! I didn't-"

Axel sighed. "Remember that time we got stuck in Atlantica and you wouldn't eat anything?"

Demyx winced. "Hey, I was a _merperson_! I could _talk_ to fish! How could I _eat_ a fish that could talk?! That's just _sick_!"

"Oh, but trying to eat Zexion is just _perfectly_ peachy?!"

"Zexy's emo! He's _bound_ to mortally injure himself sooner or later! Besides…"

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"…He was _reeeaaaally_ getting on my nerves! I mean, always walking (or swimming, in this case) around with his [stupid waterproof] iPod blasting "I'm an Emo"?! Come _on_!"

Axel was about to reply when there was a sudden crash from the kitchen. Axel groaned and slapped his forehead in exasperation.

Demyx rolled his eyes upwards at his friend. "Do I _want_ to know?"  
"_NO_!"

Axel shook his head and started towards the kitchen door. Demyx, frowning, struggled to stand up, still dizzy from his black out.

"Hey!"  
Axel turned. "_What_?!"

"A little-" Demyx rolled over in an attempt to get up, failing miserably. Axel snickered. "-_help_ here!"

Axel walked up to Demyx, took his friend's hand, and yanked him upwards off of the ground. However, he yanked too hard, and sent Demyx up off the floor and flying down the hallway.

"_Wooooa_aaaahhhh!"

_CRASH_.

Axel winced. "_O_oooh, not good…"

"_Oooooooooow_…"

Axel shuffled slowly towards the opposite door.

"Why would you _do_ that?!"

Axel inched a little closer.

"Ow… Axel?"

A _little_ closer…

"Ax…?"

Demyx's voice was high and pained, causing Axel to stop in his tracks guiltily… Just then, the kitchen door opened, revealing Sam and Cloud, who were talking quietly. Axel dove for an open window, his fear for crazy [emo] blonds flaring immediately upon seeing Cloud. He tripped, however, and landed with a thud less than a foot away from freedom.

"_Noooooooo_…" Axel whispered, reaching a hand towards the window. He paused.

"Wait a minute… Who am I, _Demyx_?"

Axel smirked as a portal suddenly enveloped him, closing up just as Sam and Cloud stepped into the hall, and leaving Demyx lying on his back in a squashed heap for them to find.

***

Sam couldn't help but feel a little guilty when she found Demyx… lying on the ground… in pain.... She'd left him six hours ago, lying in the hallway, unconscious, to go have waffles and toast…. which had been _really_ good…Though what had happened to him now, she wasn't too sure. Next to her, Cloud raised his head alertly and looked around.

"What, Cloud?"

"My emo-senses are tingling… That stupid red-head… He was here."

Sam sighed. Of course, Axel would _easily_ fit the description of who could be responsible for this…

Demyx moaned painfully, making Sam wince. Pity welling in her newly mended heart, Sam sank to her knees beside the hurt Nobody and sat. Gently, she lifted his head into her lap, brushing a few loose strands of hair out of his face.

Demyx winced as her fingers skimmed over a huge, red lump on his forehead.

"Owwww…"

_Yeah, that _has_ to hurt…What, did Axel _attack_ him or something?!_

Sam sighed. "What happened?"  
The hallway was silent for a moment. Cloud continued to stand over them, watching for any signs of his new enemy, Axel.

"_Bad_… _bad_ things…"

Demyx's voice was weak, and Sam guessed that he might be experiencing some pain in his heart, like she had. Other than that, he looked… okay… Still, Sam doubted that he could walk very well without falling over several hundred times. She looked up at Cloud.

"Your spikey hair defies gravity, so you carry him."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "How does that even make sense?"

Same held up a hand. "Do _not_ try and make sense of my mind, dude. Just do what I tell you to and agree with me. 'Kay?"

Cloud grumbled as he bent down to pick Demyx up.

"You're almost as bad as _Tifa_… that crazy chick's been following me around for almost a year! I guess she doesn't get the hint that I'm _running_ from _her_…"

Sam snickered and followed Cloud into the kitchen. Outside, a clock tolled the half hour. It was 11:30.

***

When Demyx came to (again -_-) the first thing he felt was something cool on his pounding head. He raised a hand up to his forehead and felt a cold cloth draped upon it. Opening his eyes, Demyx nearly yelped. Bending over him was Yuffie, her energetic eyes inspecting him quizzically.

"You ok dude? You hit your head pretty hard… er… a couple of times. What'd you do, piss Cloud off or something?"

Demyx could see that she was trying to make a joke out of the sad situation that it was, and he smiled softly.

"Haha, very –_ow_- funny!"

Looking around, he found himself lying on an old couch in Leon's living room. In the connecting kitchen, he heard Leon, MarXno, and Sam talking.

"What do you _mean_ he got away?!"

"Axel's gone?"

"Who cares?!"  
"LEON!"  
"Er, I kind of side with him at this point… I mean, look what he did to Demy!"

"… Sam… how _could_ you… cross to the _LIGHT_ SIDE?!"

There was a pause as if Sam were considering MarXno's question.

"Because, the Dark side doesn't really have cookies!"  
"Yeah but we have clementine's!"

Leon snorted. "What, you mean retarded oranges?"

"NO!"

"Look MarX, just 'cause you have a little crush on Ax-"

There was a giant crash in the kitchen, followed by Sam, who dove out of the kitchen door, looking scared, and hid behind Yuffie. MarXno emerged, simmering with barley controlled rage, a colossal frying pan in her hands. Behind her, Leon gave Sam a thumbs up before backing away slowly and hiding behind a bored looking Cloud.

"Can we _not_ bring that upright now Miss Oh-_here_-Demyx-let-me-put-your-head-in-my-_lap_?!"

"I HATE YOU!"

Sam leapt at MarXno angrily, and would have gotten her if it weren't for Yuffie, who grabbed the back of Sam's shirt and held her, running in place, trying desperately to get to MarXno, who stuck out her tongue.

"Sam, no! If you and MarXno get into an epic battle, then who will play Boogie Woogie Revolution with me?!"

Leon perked up.

"I will! Wait till you see my _moves_ Yuffie!"

An awkward silence enveloped the room. Demyx coughed, making Sam jump.

"Demy! You're up! How do you feel?"

"_Really_ tired. What about you? Are you feeling any better?"

Sam nodded, blushing a little bit. "Yeah, I'm doing fine."

Yuffie lost her patience just then.

"AHEM?! BWR?! _NOW_!"

"BWR?"

Leon glanced at Demyx. "Boogie Woogie Rev-"

"Let's play!" Yuffie screamed, bouncing to the TV, where two BWR mats had been set up. Yuffie turned on the game and motioned for Sam to join her.

Sam looked helplessly at Leon and Cloud. "Do I really have to? Couldn't you two just create a diversion and let me escape like Axel did?"

Cloud looked up, a strange gleam in his blue eyes.

"I… will find him and… take him DOWN!"

With a running leap he crashed through another window and took off into the town. MarXno gasped and took off after him.

"If you touch him you'll be nothing _but_ a cloud!"

Leon sighed and shook his head.

"Idiots…"

"AHEM?!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Sam, but this is the only way to get rid of Yuffie's extra energy… So play."

Angrily Sam marched over to the unoccupied mat and waited as Yuffie chose a song. Demyx sat up a little to watch.

"AYEE! I LOVE this song! Let's dance to this one!"

"Fine. Whatever. Yay."

"_I'm_ gonna go on hard mode!"

"Great, I'll be on expert."

Yuffie stared at Sam incredulously.

"What?"

"_Expert_?!"

"Yeah, we have a game similar to this where I… er… come from. I play it a lot."

Yuffie turned red.

"Well fine! I'll go on expert too!"

"Fine! I don't care! Can we just freakin' play?!"

The TV screen went dark, and then…

**Butterfly Mega Remix**

Sam turned right before the song started and glared at Demyx, and Leon.

"If either of you two stares at my ass, I WILL kill you. Got it?"

Demyx gulped and gave her a thumbs up, Leon turned red, like he'd been caught…

After she'd turned back around, Demyx checked his heart, which was emanating another new emotion…

"Is this what fear feels like, Leon?"

"Uh, yeah?'

"I don't like it…"  
"Well no shit Sherlock!"

Suddenly, the song came on, and the girls got ready to… er… boogie.

**Butterfly Mega Remix**

**Ay, iyaiyai,  
Ay, iyaiyai,  
A-a-a iyaiyai  
Where's my ****samurai******

Ay, Ay, Ay, I'm your little butterfly  
Green, black and blue, make the colors in the sky  
Ay, Ay, Ay, I'm your little butterfly  
Green, black and blue, make the colors in the sky

Where's my **samurai****  
Where's my samurai**

I've been searching for a man  
All across **Japan****  
Just to find, to find my samurai  
Someone who is strong  
But still a little shy  
Yes i need, I need my samurai**

Ay, Ay, Ay, I'm your little butterfly  
Green, black and blue, make the colors in the sky  
Ay, Ay, Ay, I'm your little butterfly  
Green, black and blue, make the colors in the sky

Where's my samurai  
Where's my samurai

I've been searching in the woods  
And high upon the hills  
Just to find, to find my samurai**  
****Someone who won't regret  
To keep me in his net  
Yes I need, I need my samurai**

Ay, Ay, Ay, I'm your little butterfly  
Green, black and blue, make the colors in the sky  
Ay, Ay, Ay, I'm your little butterfly  
Green, black and blue, make the colors in the sky

Demyx blinked.

"That… was… AMAZING! How'd you learn to move that quickly?!"

Sam blushed. Yuffie swelled with pride.

"Er, practice."

"I'm a ninja, duh!"

"You guys were great! Maybe I could try sometime?"  
"Sure… when your head is better."

Leon looked at the clock that hung above the kitchen doorway.

"Hey guys, there's a carnival in town, would you like to go?"

"YESSS!"

"At midnight?!"

"No, tomorrow, for the whole day!"

"Ohhh…I knew that…"

"We might be able to find Axel and Cloud!"

Sam snorted. "Yeah, on the boat of _love_- OW! Hey I was being sarcastic!" Sam yelled, rubbing her head where a pillow had connected with her face.

"Let's get some rest. The sooner we fall asleep, the sooner we can wake up and go!"

Leon frowned. "Not… necessarily… but, ok!"

***

Taz struggled with the ropes that bound his hands behind his back, having no luck whatsoever in loosening them. He sighed and leaned his head back on the side of the cavern, Hollow Bastion's crumbling castle towering up above him. He was just about getting ready to snap from boredom when a boy with brown, spikey hair dropped down in front of him, followed by another, only with silver, straight hair. Their keyblades were pointing at him menacingly.

"Back so soon?"

Riku's eyes narrowed and he took a step forward, he tip of his blade tracing Taz's neck.

"I'm going to ask you one more time… Where's the king?"  
Taz shrugged the best he could with his bound wrists.

"I don't know! I told you that! Now can you _please_ let me go?!"

"No!" Sora said flatly. "When you appeared next to us in the Disney Castle, the king disappeared. What happened to him?!"

Taz sighed, he'd been hoping that he wouldn't have to reveal where he was actually from.

Reluctantly he explained to the keyblade bearers his story, starting from when Sam had turned on the game up to the present. When he was finished, he was greeted by silence. Riku shook his head disbelievingly.

"So you're saying that the king switched places with you?"  
Sora looked puzzled. "And now he's in your world and you're in ours?"

Taz nodded, rolling his eyes like it was obvious.

Riku frowned. "You expect us to believe that?!"

Taz flipped shit.

"OH MY GOD! _YES_! YES I expect you to believe it, ' cause it's true! Are you kidding me right now? I thought you guys were smart… ok, maybe _just_ Riku… Kairi must be rubbing off on you two-!"

Taz collapsed onto his side suddenly, knocked out cold. Riku stood over him in a cold sweat.

Sora gulped. "H-How'd he know about Kairi?"  
"He told us that in his world, our word and its people are popular… so that means… it's true. It _has_ to be… he's not lying."

"He's telling the truth?"

Riku knelt down and picked Taz up, slinging the unconscious boy's limp form over his shoulder.

"Come on Sora, let's get him to Merlin. We need to sort things out."

Sora frowned. "What about the fact that he's a-"

"Let's not talk about it here. Come on."

Sora started jogging to catch up to his friend.

"Hey Riku, did you know there's a carnival in town tomorrow?"

"No, Sora, we're not going."

"Pleeeaaaassseee?!"

"….."

"Riku? Pwease?"

"FINE!"

***

**YAYS! **_**Finally**_**! You guys seriously have no idea how busy I've been. And, er… Ok, so I might have developed a mild case of the dreaded writers block (O_o). I'm sorry, ok?! So anyways, I've really been hooked on the Butterfly song from DDR, so here it is! The link (if you wanna hear what it sounds like) is** .com/watch?v=c8DD0yD8xn8**. Anyways… It's SO nice outside today! Seriously, the weather has been so weird. Last week we had a snowstorm that got us out of school for four days (yes **_**four**_**!), and this week it's been absolutely beautiful! Can we say global warming, people? XD**

**Anyways, I finished writing this for you guys instead of going outside. Now THERE is some dedication for ya [lol]! So, I hope you like this chapter!**

**I know **_**I**_** feel bad for Demy (sorry Dem Dem ^^).**

**I **_**really**_** love comments, they tell me what you think and always make me smile (*hint, hint, nudge, nudge* ;P)! Ok, until my next chapter (which will be sooner, I **_**promise**_**!), peace!**

**~MarXno**

**Demyx – If I get hurt **_**one**_** more time I'll-**

**Sam - -What? Unleash your sitar playing skills of **_**DOOM**_**?!**

**MarXno – Oh yeah, that's right! He **_**sucks**_** at the sitar!  
Demyx – HEY! DO **_**NOT**_**!**

**MarXno – Do **_**to**_**!**

**Demyx – **_**Not**_**!**

**MarXno – **_**To**_**!**

**Demyx – **_**No**_**-**

**Axel – TACOS!**

***Cricket chirping***

**Sam - -_-**

**Axel – What? It was the only thing to get your attention!**

**Demyx – You could have screamed FIRE instead!**

**Axel – Oh hardy hare hare! But no, I couldn't have.**

**Leon – Why not?**

**Axel – When'd you get here- Never mind… Because, you scream fire when someone's attacking you!**

**All – Why?**

**Axel – 'Cause then other people will poor buckets of water onto your opponent! Hehehehhee…. ^^**

**Sam – I don't see the sense in that… o_o**

**Demyx – Right! But what if that opponent is me?**

**Axel - … *Stomps off* I'm going to bed!**

***Flicks on light in room***

**Cloud – Hey baby**

**Axel – WAAAAAH! *Runs away (bravely ^^)***

**Cloud – Wait, come back! Was it something I said on the boat of love?!**

**MarXno - *Appears randomly* You… Are… **_**SO**_**….. DEAD!**

**Cloud - *gulps* **_**Tifa**_**?**

**Tifa - *Also appears randomly* Step away from my boy!**

**MarXno – **_**Psh**_**, girl please! I'll slap you so hard that you'll switch genders! **_**Then**_** what?!**

**Tifa - *Shrugs* He's already gay, so…**

**MarXno - *Sighs in annoyance* I need a taco… *Walks out***

**Cloud – Shit... she was supposed to **_**kill**_** Tifa…**

**Tifa – **_**Heeeeey**_**, I haven't seen you in a while. Have you been hiding?**

**Cloud – Someone help me**

**Tifa - *Smiles evilly***

**Cloud - NOOOOOOOO! **

**MarXno - *In kitchen, oblivious to Cloud's death screams* Axel can make a damn good taco! *munch* ^^**


	8. Death Leads Us to Taz

"Death" Leads Us to Taz…

_**Notice:**__** Heya! Ok, so I know that this is a long chapter, but I just couldn't help myself, I didn't want to leave anything out! So, I hope you all enjoy!**_

"Come on, let's go already!" Sam and Yuffie called from where they stood by the front door, waiting. From the couch, Demyx and Axel lifted weary bed-heads to stare tiredly in the two girls' direction. "You're kidding, right?" Sam rolled her eyes. "No Axel, I'm not _kidding_! Leon said the town fair was only going to be at Hollow Bastion for another day, and that _day_ is today! We NEED to go! _NOW_!" From the kitchen, Roxas slouched in, eyelids drooping, holding a jar of peanut butter in one hand and a spoon in the other. Yuffie pounced immediately. "ROXAS! Finally a man with reason!" Jogging lightly over to him, Yuffie put her arm around his shoulders. "Okay, buddy! Here's the deal. We want to go to the carnival, but these two sleepyheads over here won't budge!" Yuffie moaned, pointing an accusing finger at Axel and Demyx. "It's rude to point." Axel muttered while Demyx yawned tiredly and snuggled back into the couch, throwing his arm over his eyes to block the morning sunlight that streamed in through the windows. Yuffie rolled her eyes but continued. "So, Rox, we need you to whip their butts into shape! Get em' outta bed, y'know?" Yuffie put a finger to her lip. "I figure you've been around them enough to know what will get them to get movin', so c'mon, let's up and at'em!" Roxas blinked confusedly, popping the peanut butter filled spoon into his mouth. He stood like that for some time, before pulling it out with an obnoxious slurping sound. Yuffie waited patiently. "Well, Roxas? What do ya say? Can you do it? Can you? If not for the sake of you going to the carnival, then for us, the two _poor_ girls that have to deal with you people… and by that I mean all the guys in this house!" Sam looked confused. "What about MarXno, wouldn't she count as a "poor girl" too?" Yuffie frowned. "I left her out for a reason."

"Ohhhh! POOOWNED!" Cloud's voice echoed from upstairs. "That's right! I OWN! Smack down, B****! Oh yeah, can't touch this! It's my b-day, can't touch this! Giggity giggity, alright!" Yuffie rolled her eyes and snorted. Leon suddenly opened the door to his room, looking like the living dead. He stared at Yuffie as if she were transparent, his eyes bleary with sleep. "Is Cloud playing God of War again?" Yuffie shook her head. "Uh, from the sounds of it, I think he's playing Donkey Kong… or Harvest Moon." Sam frowned. _Interesting, they have the same games that we do in our world_. "Uh, isn't Harvest Moon a _farming_ game?"

"Yup…" Yuffie snickered. "I try not to ask… _a lot_." Leon moaned. "Not AGAIN!" Turning, he slammed his door shut with a bang. Meanwhile, Axel glared evilly at the staircase, where the sounds of the video game could be heard, and somehow managed to sink into the sofa cushions. Yuffie turned her attention back to Roxas. "So? What's it gonna be? Are you gonna help us or not?" Roxas blinked suddenly and squinted at Yuffie like he was seeing her for the first time. Popping another spoonful of peanut butter into his mouth, he scratched his head sleepily. "Wha-? Huh? Oh, morning Yuffie. Did you, uh, need something?" Yuffie's pupils shrunk dangerously, and her hands stretched out, reaching for Roxas's neck. "I… am going… to KILL YOU!" Roxas's eyes widened and he stepped back, alarmed. "Uh… St-stay back! I… I have-" Looking around for something to defend himself with, Roxas found only one thing. "Watch it, Yuffie! I'm dangerous! I… I… I have a _spoooooooon_! …With peanut butter on it! HA! What _now_?" Yuffie growled and suddenly lunged at Roxas, knocking him to the ground. Sam cringed as Roxas began to scream, and slowly she began to edge towards the staircase. "I- I think that I'll go find out what Cloud's playing… yeah… Th- that's what I'll do." Turning, Sam sprinted for the stairs. From under his pillow, Axel shouted after her. "While you're up there, can you somehow manage to possibly inflict some damage to that gel-head? PLEASE?" Sam gulped. "I guess? Uh, aren't you a gel-head yourself?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

Demyx suddenly sat up, looking bewildered. "_What_ is that _horrible_ noise? It sounds like Marluxia when he found out that Xigbar dyed his hair orange…" Demyx shivered at the memory. Around him, Axel, Sam, and Yuffie all glared at The Melodious Nocturne. Opening his door again, Leon leaned out to stare at Demyx as well. "It's just Roxas." Came everyone's unanimous reply. "It's _me_." Roxas moaned, sounding close to death. Yuffie snarled, causing Roxas to gasp in horror. "No, please! NOT THE SPOON! _WAAAAH_!" Leon cringed before shutting his door again. "That's _gotta_ hurt." He mumbled, popping in some earplugs to block out Roxas's screams.

...

"No freakin' way!"  
"You've _got_ to be kidding me!"

MarXno sighed, putting her hands on her hips, her blue hair swishing as she shook her head. "Um, no I'm not kidding, I'm serious." Reaching behind her, she picked up one of the shirts that Leon had left for them and examined it. The shirt design was of two swords forming a cross and the words "Hollow Bastion Duel Champ" written in elaborate text across the bottom. On the back was the name "Leonhart". "They'll do," MarXno sniffed, tossing the shirt to Demyx, which hit him in the face, causing the Nocturne to let loose a high pitched yelp, then stare around in bewilderment. MarXno snickered and handed Roxas a shirt that read "21st Annual Water-Way Festival". Roxas caught his shirt, held it up in front of him, and raised an eyebrow. "What a dork." He muttered, balling the shirt up in disgust. Demyx glanced quickly at Roxas's shirt, then back at his own. "Uh, Rox?"

"Heh?"

"Don't you think we should, er, switch shirts?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's wrong with yours?" Demyx shuffled his feet. _How_ _should I put this… _"Well, incase you haven't noticed, I kind of _suck_ at fighting, and water _is_ my element. Hence the shirt that you're holding; it says "_water_" right on the front. And you… you're more of a fighter anyways-"

"Just take the shirt, Demyx!" Roxas yelled, throwing it at his friend. Demyx grinned happily and tossed his shirt to Roxas, who balled it up immediately. "I don't even get why we have to change, it's so stupid!" MarXno quickly poked Roxas in his side annoyedly, causing Roxas to give a cry of surprise. "Idiots." She hissed, her delicate temper flaring. "I already told you guys, we aren't walking around in the HOT sun wearing black leather coats at a carnival." Axel scratched the back of his neck from his place on the sofa. "Uh, why not? We do it all the time… minus the carnival part." MarXno slapped her forehead with her hand. "I don't know about _you_ guys, but I _really_ don't feel like sweating my ass of today! Just for once I'd like to go somewhere in comfort… without people thinking we're weird for wearing all black _leather_ in 90 degree weather!" Demyx giggled. "Hehe, you just rhymed!" Axel rolled his eyes and slid from his position on the sofa's arm, flopping onto the cushions tiredly. It had only been an hour and a half since Sam and Yuffie and tried to wake them; that meant it was around nine o'clock in the morning… Ew.

MarXno sighed and turned around, finding a set of jeans for each of the guys. "Here. " She said, tossing them each a pair. Roxas caught his, glaring at them like they'd just insulted him. "And these are better than our black pants _how_?" MarXno shrugged. "Leon doesn't have anything shorter than that, and those other pants needed to be cleaned. What do you guys do, just re-wear them every day without ever washing them?"

"Pretty much." The answer came in unison.

"Didn't need to know that." MarXno said matter-of-factly. Digging through the pile of clothes again, she found a shirt and some jeans for Axel, and tossed them over. Axel picked his head up and held the shirt so that he could see what was on it. His eyes widened. "What's this supposed to mean?" He asked, sounding confused. MarXno cocked her head to the side so that she could see the shirt that Axel had spun around to show her. On it was a picture of a fiery set of lips curled into a kiss. Beneath this were the words "Flame On." MarXno's eyes grew wide, and then she doubled over, laughing hysterically. "What?" Axel asked, turning the shirt so that he could inspect it again. MarXno straightened, still giggling a little, and grabbed the sofa for support. "Relax, Axel, it just means exactly what it says." Axel frowned. "Oh…"

"So FLAME ON, you FLAMMER!"

"WAH-? Oof!"

Axel, in his surprise, had rolled right off the sofa, landing with a soft thump on the carpet. MarXno, Demyx, and Roxas had meanwhile collapsed onto the floor, holding their sides in a failed effort to stop their laughing. Axel growled, pissed, and sent flames from his palms racing their way. They stopped abruptly when the got within a foot of the three, water swirling from Demyx's hand to meet the fire. Roxas couldn't resist. "Oh no! Guys, he- he's FLAMMING! Watch out!" All three sank back into the waves of hysteria, MarXno rolling on the floor as she laughed.

"Mothers, hide your children!" She yelled.

"MarXno, hide Roxas!" Demyx yelled, causing all three to erupt once more. With tears in their eyes they pointed at Axel, who was nearly at boiling point… which, of course, only made them laugh even harder. Suddenly, Cloud rolled down the stairs, laughing so hard he too had tears streaming down his face. Pointing at Axel, who'd regained his seat on the sofa and was slowly melting into the cushions, he managed to speak through fits of laughter, "That… SO… explains a… LOT! Hahahaha! It all makes sense now! HAHAHA!"

Suddenly the front door to the house opened, revealing Yuffie, Sam, and another girl, dressed in pink with a large bow in her hair, that was unfamiliar. The three girls looked at the scene in front of them: the three organization members almost about to die from laughing so hard, rolling around on the floor, Cloud having a laughing fit on the stairs, Leon coming out of his room to see what all the commotion was, then rolling his eyes and retreating back into his bedroom and locking the door, and Axel, who'd sunk so far into the sofa cushion that only his bright red hair was visible. The three glanced at each other, and then back at the sight before them. Sam sighed. "That's _it_! I'm leaving without them!" Turning, she marched out the door, Yuffie and the newer girl following close behind. The laughter began to quiet as they left, each person slowly regaining control of their hysteria. Cloud shook his head before resting it in his palm. "Oh man…" He sighed. Axel peeped out of hiding; taking note that the room had gone silent as everyone regained their breath. Before the door shut after the girls, however, Yuffie suddenly ran back inside, pumping her fist in the air. "FLAME ON!" She screamed, before leaping back outside. The door shut with a snap. "Oh no…" Axel whimpered, sinking quickly back into the safety of the cushion. A rumbling filled the house, growing louder and more violent with each passing second. It grew into a thunderous rumble, escalating quickly from the people around him, until... BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FLAME ON, AXEL!"

...

It was around noon before the girls managed to haul everyone's butts out of Leon's house and down the road to the train stop, where they all quickly piled on. Aerith, whose name had finally been figured out, Sam, and Yuffie sat down quickly as soon as they boarded, causing the boys to have a brief fight over who got to sit and who had to stand. "Guys, it's only a ten minute trip at best! Man up, _seriously_!" Roxas turned to glare at Sam. "Says the girl who's sitting down!" Behind him, Axel and Demyx bumped fists over their victory of winning the two remaining train seats. Rolling his eyes, Leon grabbed at one of the hooks hanging from the ceiling. Seeing this, Roxas looked up above him to find the straps running all along the train's ceiling. "Oh boy…" He grumbled, staring up at them. Reaching a hand up, Roxas tried to grab at a leather hook, failing miserably. _I'm to freakin' short! Oh shit… Am I turning into Zexion? _Fearing the worst, Roxas bunched his knees, and with a powerful leap, sprung up, hand waving wildly in its search for the strap. Fail. _Again_. Behind him, Axel and Demyx were trying not to pee their pants from holding in their laughter for so long. _One more try! _Summoning all his strength, Roxas leapt forcefully into the air, eyes targeted on the hook, hand reaching, determined… and missed by a foot. Roxas growled. "I won't give up!"

"Oh, _how_ corny. Who are you, _Sora_?" Leon moaned, slapping his forehead with his hand. Sam jumped at this and looked around nervously, though no one seemed to really take a special notice to Leon's comment_. That's right_, she remembered_, I'm the only one who knows about Roxas being Sora's _Nobody_… well, except for maybe Demyx, and Axel, of course, but I don't think he heard, he seems to be a little… preoccupied… _

"You FAIL!" Axel screamed, pointing at a surprised Roxas, unable to contain himself any longer and falling off the bench with laughter. Demyx snorted. Noticing the now unoccupied seat beside him, Demyx eyes widened and he waved his hands, trying to get Roxas's attention. "Huh? What Demyx?"

"Dude, sit down. Quickly. _Now_." Demyx hissed through gritted teeth. Roxas blinked, then realized his luck and sprung for the empty seat. It took Axel another five minutes to calm down before he noticed the change. "Hey, what the hell?"

"Who's the fail now?" Roxas hissed, before popping in his headphones and cranking up his iPod. "Um guys, seriously now, why didn't anyone stop him…? DEMYX!" Axel looked around, suddenly realizing that everyone had their iPods in. "Guys?" Silence. "Guuuuys?" Someone coughed somewhere on the train. "Guuuuuys?" Demyx began humming the Sitar song. "GGGUUUYSSS!"

_**{Axel later recalls that after a good seven minutes of screaming, he finally passed out and was woken up by Demyx, who he promptly tackled off the train, much to the horror of the [many] innocent bystanders… This resulted in MarXno whipping out her book and writing some… er… painful things in it about Axel and Demyx [even though Demy didn't even really do anything], Yuffie cheering from the sidelines, Sam freaking out, the police coming, MarXno having to write in her book and erase all the witnesses memories, Roxas teasing MarXno that she was the next Namine, MarXno almost killing Roxas, Leon stubbing his toe while trying to separate Axel and Demyx, Axel burning Demyx [both physically **_**and**_** verbally], Demyx extinguishing Axel [literally], Aerith running around for a first aid kit for all the boys shouting that she must "heal them", Leon cursing his head off, Yuffie buying a corndog, a duck flying by, MarXno writing herself a pair of earplugs, and finally, Leon thinking logically and calling Cloud for backup.}**_

...

"This is even cooler than I expected!" Demyx bubbled, his head turning this way and that as the group passed different rides and stalls, his eyes lingering especially on the food ones. He paused, eyeing a hotdog stand hungrily, and yelped in surprise when Sam pushed him forward. "Oh no you don't! You've gotta go on at least one roller coaster with me before you even think about eating!" Feeling his face heat up with a blush, Demyx quickly ducked behind Axel, who was trudging along heartlessly (no pun intended ^^). "Dude, she wants me to ride a coaster with her!" Demyx felt a flutter of what he thought to be nervousness inside of him. "I can't freakin' believe Leon called Cloud!" Axel grumbled, stomping along and ignoring Demyx completely. "Wait, what is a roller coaster, anyways?"

"Who the HELL name's their kid Cloud! I mean seriously, WTF?"

"But she wants me to ride it with her! Maybe it'll be so scary that she'll buy me two hot dogs!" Axel paused in his ranting to glance over at his friend as if he had just proclaimed that Cloud was his new best friend. "Dude, any normal guy would have been like "maybe she'll be so scared that she'll get cozy with me", or something normal. Come on man, eyes on the prize!" Demyx blinked. "The hotdogs?"

"NO!"

Up ahead, the girls and Cloud had already found a ride that had them freaking out. "Omgomgomg, just look at it!" MarXno yelled, pointing at the attraction in awe. Cloud was eyeing the line hungrily, fidgeting from foot to foot in anticipation. Sam stared dumbstruck while Yuffie and Leon just looked at each other. "This carnival is really good this year." Yuffie whispered, eyeing the ride and taking a giant bite out of her corn dog. Leon nodded weakly. "Uh huh…" Aerith looked like she was about to faint. "What's going on now?" Axel groaned, coming to stand beside MarXno. "Eh." Was all she managed, raising a hand to point at the ride. Axel's green eyes followed her finger, until- "HOLY F-… MOTHER!" Demyx followed his friend's gazes and immediately went weak at the knees. "Sam?" He gasped, mouth suddenly dry. "Please tell me that's the world's tallest food stand." Sam shook her head, excitement shining in her eyes. "'Fraid not! Let's go guys!" The group hurried towards the line, with the exception of Demyx and Axel, who had to be dragged.

...

Reaching the front, a worker came over to assist them. "Can we go as a group?" MarXno asked, excited. The worker nodded. "How many?"

"Well let's see…" Turning around, Yuffie began to count everyone. "…Five, six, seven, eight…" Yuffie faltered. "Uh, hey guys? I thought there were nine of us here?" Everyone glanced around, trying to see who was missing. "Crap, Roxas!" Sam yelped. From the back of the group came Axel's muffled reply. "S'ok, I got em'." Shuffling his way to the front, Axel emerged dragging an unconscious Roxas. He shrugged at everyone's bewildered stares. "What? Poor guy fainted as soon as we got in line, guess his nerves got to him… _again_... and I didn't want to cause a ruckus, so I just picked him up and kept walking." Everyone just nodded, bemused. Cloud snickered "Who the hell says "ruckus" anymore? Well, besides my _grandma_." Axel dropped Roxas, who hit the ground with a _thud_. "Ooooh!" MarXno winced. "You wanna go?" Axel shouted, poking Cloud in the chest. Cloud growled. "Sure gel-head, any day!"  
"Grrr! You have more gel in your hair than _I_ do you IDIOT!"

"DO FREAKIN' NOT!"

"DO FREAKIN' TOO!"

"FREAKIN' NOT!"

"FREAKIN' TOO!"

"FREAK-"

"Can we JUST get on the FREAKIN' RIDE?" Sam shouted, grabbing both boys by the scruffs of their shirts and shoving them in front of her. "Jeez! You two are like an old married couple!" From behind Sam, Axel and Cloud exchanged grossed out looks. "Ewww!"

Yuffie whistled and nudged Leon. "That's woman power for ya."

"Yeah, yeah." Eying the still unconscious Roxas, Leon raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. "Uh, should we leave Roxas here?"  
"Nah, we'll just buckle him in and hope he wakes up at the scariest part!" Leon shook his head, yet bent down to retrieve Roxas. "You people are evil."

"Thank you, we sure try!"

...

Roxas tugged on the belt securing him to his seat. He'd only regained consciousness a few minutes ago to find everyone already in their seats at the front of the ride. Demyx, Sam, Axel, and then himself were in the first row, while MarXno, Cloud, Leon, Aerith and Yuffie sat behind them. Leaning over to Axel, he tapped his friend's shoulder. The pyro paused in his conversation with Sam and Demyx and looked over, surprised. "Hey dude, you're awake!" Roxas blinked, disoriented. "Yeah… Uh, when does the ride start? And what _is_ it?" Axel pointed over to Sam. "Demyx just asked the same question; Sam's explaining it to him… and the ride should start any minute now." Roxas gulped and looked at the tall, arching beams around them, then leaned over to hear what Sam was saying.

"…Is called a roller coaster, Demyx. Actually, I think it's one of the nastiest one's I've ever seen." Roxas saw Demyx gulp. "What does it do?" Demyx asked, eyeing the ride's structure warily. "Oh, just about any kind of flip, dip, or turn you can think of…" Sam paused, growing suddenly serious. "None of you ate anything before we got on, did you?" She asked, raising her voice so that she could address the whole group. "No!" Came everyone's reply.

"Phew!" Sam sighed, slouching in her seat. Axel cocked his head in confusion. "Why does it matter if we've eaten anything?" Sam shook her head, eyes closed. "You don't wanna know." Silence grew around them as they waited for the ride to start. Roxas tried his best not to notice how high the ride would go, or the exact details of it, but small glimpses managed to catch his eyes, anyways, causing him to shudder. Just as he was beginning to grow restless, a voice suddenly sounded from the speakers situated around them. Roxas perked up his ears so that he could catch what the fuzzy sounding voice was saying. "Attention riders! Welcome to-" Roxas frowned and sat up straighter, straining his ears to try and make out what the voice was saying over the buzz of noises from the carnival around him. He grimaced when he could once again hear the voice, annoyed that he had missed some of what it had said, and continued listening. "-One of our world's tallest traveling roller coasters… Correction! Make that this world's _tallest_ coaster, period! Now sit back, enjoy, and try not to up-chuck!" With that the speakers went silent, leaving the riders silent with anticipation. "Ew!" Roxas heard Yuffie mumble from behind him. "Ohooh! _Why_ did I go on this ride again?" From farther off, Roxas heard Cloud mutter to Leon, "Dude, you better watch Yuffie. She's really bad with the motion sickness, especially in the air." Leon groaned. "You tell me this _now_?"

"Well at least Aerith is sitting next to her!" Leon paused. "Good point."

Beside him, Aerith had her hands clasped, her eyes searching the heavens as she prayed. Her lips moved quickly as she spoke. "Please don't let Yuffie barf on me. Please don't let Yuffie barf on me. _Please_ don't let me die and _don't_ let Yuffie barf on me."

Roxas raised his eyebrows at the commotion behind him, then leaned over and tapped Sam's arm. She turned around and raised her eyebrow in question. "Yes?"

"What's this ride called?" A shadow of a smirk twitched on Sam's lips. "Death."

"Oh man _up_ Sam!" Roxas teased, remembering how Sam herself had teased him in the same way earlier on the train. "Really, though, what's it called?"

"I'm telling you! The ride's name is "Death"!"

"Oh…" Roxas glanced over at Axel, who caught his eye. The two of them leaned over to exchange horrified glances with Demyx. Suddenly and without warning, the coaster shot forward with blinding speed, thrusting them all back into their seats with the force of it all. They flew up the first hill, flipping upside down and doing a quick corkscrew before spiraling downwards again.

"WAAAHHH!" Screamed Sam and Demyx, hugging each other in fright. Axel was whooping, along with Cloud and, surprisingly, Aerith, while MarXno and Yuffie tried not to look down… or up… or anywhere. Leon, meanwhile, sighed, his brown hair whipping around his face, and sat back to enjoy the ride quietly. Roxas felt something flutter in his heart, and quickly, surprisingly, pinpointed the feeling as adrenaline; happiness. He, too, began to yell, holding his arms above his head as the ride spun around in two tight circles before dropping and leaving everyone's stomachs far behind.

...

Riku pushed the boy deeper into the carnival's grounds, keeping a firm grip on his knife, which he pressed harder into Taz's back as they passed numerous attractions. The smell of food wafted to meet him, yet he ignored his grumbling stomach and marched on. Behind him, Sora trailed, watching their backs as they moved further into the fair grounds. Why Sora had insisted on coming here was lost to him, but Riku knew that his friend hadn't really had much free time during the past two years, though many hardships were sadly under both their belts. Wiping a trickle of sweat from his brow, Riku glanced back at Sora, whose blue eyes were huge with wonder. "I haven't been to a carnival since that one in Destiny Islands five years ago!" Riku nodded, "Yeah, I remember that." From his place in front of Riku, Taz attempted to turn around, wincing as Riku's knife pinched his skin. "You guys had a _carnival_ there? No way!"

"Keep moving!" Riku growled, pushing Taz forward again. The small group finally came to the end of the attractions. Sora sighed and put his hands behind his head, looking around himself with interest. Riku scowled. "Can we go to Merlin's now?"

"No way! I wanna ride at least one ride." Suddenly, Sora's eyes grew wide. "That one." He whispered, pointing to a giant roller coaster. Above the entrance was a sign emblazoned with a glowing name: "Death". "Let's go!" Sora shouted, running ahead. "Wait!" Riku cried, before hurriedly following his friend, careful to keep their prisoner in front of him.

...

Sam sighed. "Death" had caused the group to have to take a few extra minutes to stand and regain their composure (and Yuffie had to run to the bathroom to… ew…), and they now stood in a secluded spot beside the exit to the ride, catching their breath. Axel ran a hand through his hair, his expression dazed. "What an appropriate name for that ride." Moaned Demyx, hand on his head. Sam smiled softly and took his arm, wrapping it around her shoulder gently to support him, causing Demyx to start with surprise. She hid her smile as she saw warm red color reveal itself on Demyx's cheeks. Beside her, Roxas was staring back at the exit to the ride with a look of awe, while the rest of the party milled around a bench. Sam looked over at Roxas, who had a big smile on his face. "That was so much fun!" He gasped, eyes bright. Sam smiled; Roxas was adorably cute when he was excited. The keybearer continued in an animated voice. "We so need to do it aga-"

Suddenly Roxas's eyes went wide, his mouth working, though no sound came out. Dropping to the ground, Roxas writhed in agony, his mouth open in a silent pained scream, his eyes screwed shut. Sam gasped, and ran to her friend's side. "_Roxas_!" Axel shouted, fear in his voice. Kneeling beside his best friend, Axel reached out to him, but was stopped suddenly by MarXno. "No." She said, catching Axel's arm. "Leave him; it will only be worse if someone interferes." Demyx knelt beside her. "What's _happening_ to him?"

"I don't know." MarXno said, panic in her voice. Leon and Aerith, though both alarmed, had instantly assumed positions around Roxas's writhing body, keeping guard. Cloud, surprisingly, knelt down opposite Axel. The two exchanged glances, though nothing more was said, both agreeing silently on peace between them for the time being. Sam flicked her eyes around, panic clouding her mind. This couldn't be happening. Looking in the direction that Roxas had been staring in, she suddenly froze, a chill running down her spine. There, standing just behind a tree, was Taz. _Her_ Taz, in the flesh. He was there. He was _here_, looking curiously at something… Following his gaze, though it was incredibly hard to pry her eyes of her newly found best friend, Sam gasped. Rooted to the spot, same as her, was Sora. _The_ Sora, the keybearer. It was Sora. Something within Sam stirred, deep within her heart as the two of them locked eyes. Clutching her chest suddenly, Sam collapsed the world a blur as the all too familiar pain re-awakened in her heart. She gasped for air, but there was none. There was only pain. Distantly she heard Demyx cry her name, heard Axel's "Oh shit", but she was already to far off in her own agony to respond.

...

Sora couldn't believe his eyes. He'd seen _himself_; or what he thought to be himself, only with a slight alteration to the face, and with blonde hair, instead of brown. Heart beating wildly, he watched as his look alike froze upon locking eyes with him, turning rigid, and toppled over, writhing as if tortured. Two boys dropped to their knees beside him, while a girl with flowing blue hair caught the red haired boys shaking hand and began speaking to him. A boy and a girl stood guard over the large group, while another blonde haired boy knelt beside the pained one. It all happened so fast after that. His eyes met those of a striking girl's, and he collapsed, unable to move, pain searing his heart. "_Sora_!" Riku yelled. He felt his friend kneel beside him and lift him gently, yet urgently, but he was already fading…

...

Cloud didn't know what to do. "Aerith, you're the healer! Can't you _do_ something?" He shouted at the girl. She started, surprised, and hurried from her position on guard over to her friend. "I don't think so." She murmured, hands feeling Roxas's shaking brow. Turning, she looked over at Sam, who was likewise; out cold, though a pained expression still masked both her and Roxas's features. Axel looked up from where he knelt beside Roxas, distress emanating from him, and scanned their hiding spot. Eyes growing large, as if he'd seen a ghost, Axel suddenly moaned with pain and fell backwards, only to be caught seconds before hitting the ground by MarXno, who looked from Axel to Aerith and Cloud with fear in her eyes. Behind them, where Demyx sat with Leon and Sam, there was a loud thump. Whipping around, Cloud felt alarm bite deeper into his heart as he saw Demyx collapse with an agonized yelp next to Sam. Leon looked up, panic clear on his features. "What's happening?" MarXno moaned, glancing down at Axel, who was flinching from the pain that he must have been experiencing, though he was unconscious. Cloud stood, a feeling of unease prickling within him, and reached quickly for the sword that he normally kept on his back, hand only grasping air. He looked around, his eyes narrowed. He was just about to suggest that they call an ambulance when he heard MarXno gasp in surprise and pain. Looking over, Cloud watched as the girl's eyes rolled back up into her head and she collapsed, Axel's torso falling onto hers as she fell backwards. "Shit." Cloud and Leon cursed at the same time. "What the _hell_ is going on? What's _wrong_ with them?" Cloud shouted. It was then that he noticed, as did Leon, the strange boy who suddenly stood before them.

At that moment, the strong afternoon sunlight fell on the boy, illuminating only half of him as a particularly large cloud rolled past. Cloud felt himself as well as his comrades stiffen in unbridled shock, nothing could have prepared any of them for this. The one half of the boy, the half illuminated in light, made him shine with a particular radiance that seemed almost heavenly. With it came the feelings of pure happiness, relief, health, the will to give, prosperity, hope, forgiveness, security, wisdom; it felt as if only the _purest_ of things could come from this stranger. In his hand the heavenly child clutched a keyblade that shone almost as brightly as he did. The only part that was remotely visible was the tip, which was in the shape of a large white wing, the feathers sharpened to a dangerous point. Cloud found that he could do nothing but stare in awe at the majestic being in front of him. Then his eyes switched their gaze to the side of the boy that was hidden in the cloud's shadow, and Cloud cringed in disgust and fear. As he gazed at the boy, he could not even make out the right side of his face. His body seemed to be incased in a thick, evil fog, which wrapped itself around only the right half of the stranger, only the half in the shadows, the half in the dark. His right eye gleamed a malevolent red in the dusk, whilst the other eye had glowed a beautiful gold in the light of the sun. Cloud felt horrible, swirling thoughts incase him, he felt all that he had ever strived to be free of. Anger, regret, fear, hatred, greed, ignorance, self pity, despair, jealousy… pure _evil_. As Cloud recoiled further, he spotted another keyblade, oneof great destruction in the boy's hand. Once more, only the tip was visible, with dark, smoky fog incasing the rest of the blade. This time, instead of a wing, the keyblade's tip was of bones, many bones of all sizes, all sharpened to a dreadful point like jagged teeth.

The boy's mouth moved, the light side revealing a set of even, white teeth, the dark showing pointed fangs. He spoke only one word; a name, in a hushed whisper. "_Sam_." In that moment, Cloud knew, without a doubt, who this boy was, though he'd never met or even known of his existence before this point. He felt the foreign name on his tongue, and as he said it a warm breeze swept past him, laced with a dreadful chilled wind that engulfed them all and whipped at his face, hair, and clothes. Leon, as well as Aerith, knew the name as well.

"Taz."

_The incarnation of Light and Darkness… has awakened…_

**Heya! Okays, so I **_**really**_** hope that you liked this chapter; I must say, I put **_**a lot**_** of effort into it (which is why it's so late ^^… *cough* sorry about that, by the way! *cough*)! I'm sorry I couldn't finish this sooner, but what with finals and all, not to mention basketball… my life's been preeetty busy. But, summer is just around the corner, so maybe now I'll manage to be more punctual, eh?(Don't count on it -_- I procrastinate too much ^^). Anywho, I also wanted to thank everyone who's favorited, tagged, reviewed… it really means **_**a lot**_** to me guys! =D**

**So, that's all for now! If you have any ideas, don't hesitate to msg me them! Oh, and I really like to hear what you all think of this lovely story, so please review! Peace!**

**~MarXno**


	9. It Can't Get Any Worse Than This

"It Can't Possibly Get Any Worse Than This!"

"It Just Did."

**_(I uploaded the unfinished one on accident... OOPS 0_0... so here's the finished one! Sorry! lols...)_**

Cloud couldn't take his eyes off the boy; something about the aura that floated around him held Cloud's blue eyed gaze in place. Leon, too, seemed to be unable to pull his eyes from the boy. Only Yuffie and Aerith—who had quickly averted their eyes—remained free of his hold. "Cloud!" Yuffie yelped, shock in her voice. "Leon! You guys! Look away from him, you won't feel so tired!"

_Tired_? Cloud checked himself. It was true, his entire body was exhausted. But _how_? "I can't." He managed to say, feeling himself start to shake with fatigue.

"What? What do you mean you can't?"

Cloud growled. "I mean I _literally_ can't! I-"

Cloud's legs suddenly gave way, and he tumbled to the ground. Fortunately, Aerith caught him. Yuffie raced forward, grasping Leon's shoulders. She pulled him away, ripping his vision from the boy. They collapsed on the ground, Leon breathing heavily. Slowly, Cloud sat up. "What _is_ that thing?" Leon put a hand to his head and groaned. "I don't know, but don't look at it again." He slumped suddenly, and would have fallen back if Yuffie had not been supporting him. "He's the recarnation of light and darkness." Aerith's voice was soft as she explained. "It's explained in one of those history books at Merlin's—the recarnation of light and darkness, an impossibly powerful being, will one day come again to the worlds and change them forever." Yuffie cringed and groaned. "_Forever_? What if it's not a _good_ change?" Cloud, who'd regained some of his strength, stood up, careful to avoid looking in the general direction of the recarnation. "We need to get them away from here." He said, gazing around at his unconscious friends… and Axel. "We need to just plain get away." Yuffie moaned. Suddenly, eyes growing wide, she pointed past Leon. "Hey guys! It's Sora! Leon! Sora's here too! He's collapsed…"

"Where'd the incarnation go?" Leon cried, peering over in the direction of the stranger, who appeared to be oblivious to everything else as he tried to revive his friend.

"I don't really know… He just disappeared!" It was true. The incarnation was gone. In his place there was Sora and the unknown boy, his silver hair obscuring his face from sight.

"Ugh!" Yuffie cried, stamping her foot in frustration. "This is _so_ bad! It can't possibly get worse than this!" Cloud looked up upon hearing a strange noise and automatically pulled Yuffie behind him. "It just did." Whipping around, the four found themselves face to face with Organization 13… or at least half of it. Before them stood Marluxia, Lexaeus, Luxord, Larxene, Xaldin, Zexion, and Xigbar. Marluxia— obviously in charge—took a step forward, his scythe appearing in a burst of flower petals. Leon tried to hold back a snort. Despite the situation that they were in, Cloud couldn't help but notice the strange streaks of brown in Marluxia's normally pink hair.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee." The pink haired nobody glanced at the unconscious Organization members around him. He sighed. "I'll make you a deal, fools, so consider yourself lucky!" This time Leon really did snort. "You let us take these traitors without a fight, and we won't kill you." Next to Marluxia, Larxene rolled her eyes and folded her arms. This was taking to long for her liking. "No way!" Leon and Cloud shouted in unison, reaching for their blades. Yuffie did likewise, reaching around for her shurkian, while Aerith retreated behind the three, where she began to pray. It wasn't looking good for the Organization… Well, it wasn't until the three remembered that they'd left their weapons at Leon's. "Shit!" Yuffie whispered. All she had were a few small shurkian—emergency weapons she'd hidden, since weapons weren't allowed at the fair.

"Well we're screwed." Cloud mumbled, standing protectively in front of his friends—both conscious and unconscious. Glancing towards where the incarnation was standing, Cloud did a double take—he was gone! The others, already knowing this, took up defensive stances as well. The Organization looked at one another. Marluxia began to laugh. Soon they were all laughing except for Zexion—"Emo's don't laugh…"—and Xigbar, who shook his head. "I'm not paid enough for this." Their laughter making in angrier, Cloud shifted forward a step. He was trying to think of a way to catch one of them off guard; all he needed was one of their weapons. Next to him, Cloud sensed Leon's anxiety and figured that he was thinking of a plan as well. Marluxia must have noticed. With a single flick of his hand, the Nobodies assembled summoned their weapons and in one fluid movement surrounded their prey. Yuffie fingered one of her shurkian, but Cloud tapped her hand. "Don't give them a reason to attack us." He murmured so low that only she could hear. "They're going to attack us anyway." She hissed back, unease making her snappy.

The Organization had circled their group fully. Cloud couldn't help but wonder why nobody else at the fair had not noticed any of this, and that was when he'd noticed: time had stopped. His sharp intake of breath must have alerted the Organization what he'd just figured out. "It would be quite a hassle if everyone were to see this little show, wouldn't it?" Cloud's eyes focused on the Nobody who was directly in front of him. Short blond hair and a short beard dominated his features. _This must be Luxord, the one who can control time._ Cloud suddenly felt extremely outnumbered. They had no weapons and had to defend more people than they had to attack with. Besides that, each member of the Organization had a special power. Luxord was time, Marluxia was _flowers_, Xigbar was space, and Larxene was…? Cloud didn't know the rest of theirs, though he knew the members of the Restoration Committee would; they drilled themselves to know their enemies inside and out.

Marluxia suddenly made a motion with his hand, but before anyone could react Larxene raised her hand. "_What_?" Marluxia asked, sounding annoyed. Larxene smiled evilly. "Couldn't we play with them a little bit, Marly? I haven't had any fun in weeks!" Marluxia sighed, why did she have to _always_ be so sadistic? She was without a doubt the evilest one in the Organization. "The Superior said to bring back the traitors…" He said, pondering. "But these fools most likely possess valuable information; the superior would be pleased if I brought them back." A few of the Organization members grumbled or rolled their eyes; Marluxia was always trying to be a kiss-ass to Mansex. The pinked haired Nobody turned to Larxene. "I… don't really care what you do to them; just make sure they get back to the castle alive."

Cloud tensed, this was it. He had figured out a plan, quickly, while Marluxia had been talking. Glancing at Leon, and then at Yuffie, he caught their eyes. _One…. Two…. Three! _Leaping forward, Cloud slammed into Marluxia, knocking him off his feet. Leon smashed into Xaldin, while Yuffie took on Larxene. Three of her shurkian raced around, hitting their marks, Zexion, Lexaeus, and Xigbar. Only Luxord was left out of the fray. "I'm cool with this." He said, shrugging and walking off. _We might be able to beat them off! _Cloud thought as he aimed a roundhouse kick at Marluxia's stomach. His foot connected solidly with the Nobody, sending Marluxia flying back. Cloud smirked and made to follow. But he couldn't move.

"Oh no, not again!" He heard Leon groan. There was something wrong though, something different than last time. Yuffie and Aerith were paralyzed too, and there was a pressure pushing down on them all, that was slowly pushing them to the ground. Cloud stumbled and fell on his hands and knees. 'What's happening?" He yelled. Leon was in the same predicament as he was, while Aerith and Yuffie were already on the ground. "Its…. Him!" Yuffie managed, struggling to turn her head in the direction of the assailant. Cloud's eyes flicked towards Xaldin, who was floating a foot off the ground. "No…" Leon gasped, falling onto his side. "Xaldin… controls the… wind…" So _that_ was what was pushing down on them. Cloud growled, struggling to fight back, but he eventually was overwhelmed and fell onto his back, unable to move. Marluxia, who had a black eye and a bleeding lip, stood up. "Gather the traitors." He said, his voice distorted from his swelling lip and the blood. Only Larxene, Luxord, and Xaldin did not help. Cloud watched, helpless, as his friends disappeared into black portals. _Damn_. He thought, struggling to sit up, but Xaldin's control on the wind was too strong, it would not budge.

Marluxia turned to Xaldin and Larxene. "I'll see you two later. And remember Larxene, don't kill them!" Larxene raised her hand in the air and gave Marluxia a thumbs up. "What_ever_ you say, Marly!" Xaldin huffed. "Let's just get this over with, ok?" Larxene glared at Xaldin. "Fine." Huffing, she walked forward, examining one of her knifes idly. "But what shall we do with them?" She glanced at Cloud and smiled. Cloud bared his teeth, still struggling to get up. Larxene noticed. "Don't bother; Din Din over here won't be letting up any time soon!" Xaldin snarled. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Larxene chuckled wickedly. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity shot down from the sky, hitting Cloud in the chest. "Cloud!" Yuffie and Aerith yelled as he cried out in pain. Leon growled, trying to move. "If you fight it, it will only make you weaker!" Aerith said, her eyes still on Cloud. The electricity had stopped. Another bolt suddenly shot down, this time hitting Cloud and Leon, who both gasped in pain. "Stop it!" Yuffie yelled, anger making her face red. Larxene ignored her. "I'm impressed." She said, walking over to Cloud, who was panting. "The average person can only stay conscious for two of my hits, and that's if they're quick. But it appears that you and your buddies aren't average, are you?" She cried, kicking Cloud in the side. "So, let's kick it up a notch, shall we?" Larxene raised a hand, electricity gathering around her. _Shit, this is _not_ good. We may not even make it to Marluxia—this girl's insane! _Cloud tensed his body, bracing himself. He heard Aerith whimper softly behind him and tried to turn his head, tried to calm her.

If Cloud had been standing, he would have collapsed the pain was so intense. It was one of the worst feelings he'd ever felt. He found that he couldn't even cry out, couldn't even think, all he could do was lay there and take it. Leon writhed slightly, his teeth clenched. Cloud suspected that Yuffie and Aerith were already unconscious, or worse… Larxene smiled, a cackle escaping her lips. There was a _woosh _and a sword flew through the air. Larxene barely deflected it, the blow causing one of her knives to break in two. Cloud turned his head—he could move again! Xaldin and Larxene were standing back to back, their heads swiveling as they tried to find their attacker. Cloud tried to sit up, but yelped in pain as soon as he did so. Slowly he lay back down. Beside him, Yuffie and Aerith lay motionless. Leon was still conscious, but it didn't look like he would be for long—his breathing was light and quick, and his eyes were glazed. Cloud's eyes narrowed—they had to get away! The attacker suddenly struck again, flying at the two Nobodies with amazing speed. Larxene, who'd been caught off guard, gasped as her arm was sliced, the blade cutting through her coat. Xaldin countered the mysterious attacker, sending a blast of wind his way. But he was too quick. Silver hair flying, the boy dodged the blast and shot straight at Xaldin, altering his course when he got too close. Xaldin blinked—where had he gone? A flash of silver was the only signal of his presence. "Xaldin! Look out, he's behind you!" Larxene shouted, but it was too late.

Xaldin grunted, dropping to the ground like a rock. The boy's eyes flicked to glare at Larxene. "You're next." The Nobody gulped. "Oh no I'm not!" A black portal suddenly erupted around her. Smiling, Larxene waved as the darkness swallowed her up. The boy didn't take his eyes off of her until she was completely gone. "She could have at least taken him with her." He grumbled, kicking Xaldin's unconscious form in annoyance. Cloud shivered suddenly—he was badly hurt and losing consciousness. He tried to call their savior over, but his voice wouldn't work, his mind was too mixed up. Leon, who'd been struggling to get up, suddenly collapsed; the boy spun around. He frowned and walked quickly over to them, his sword disappearing—it was a keyblade! Bending down, he checked Leon, and then Aerith. He jumped when he met Cloud's eyes—he hadn't been expecting any of them to be conscious. "My name is Riku." The boy said, reading the look in Cloud's eyes. He started to say more, but to Cloud everything suddenly went fuzzy, the sky reeling. Cloud felt himself slip into the blackness of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Where are we?"

"Isn't it obvious? The castle! We're in the Castle That Never Was!"

'We've really got to change that name—think about it, The Castle That _Never Was_?"

"Hey! Mansex freakin' named it, not me!"

"You guys! Have any of you noticed the problem we're all in?"

Sam struggled a little with her bonds, eyeing her friends. The rest of them seemed to not have noticed that they were in a dungeon, tied up! Axel and Demyx glanced at each other, while MarXno just sighed. "I really need to ask the Superior if I can get some vacation days…" Sam tried to sit up—the only thing tied up was her hands, so this wasn't too hard. Sitting on her knees, she faced the Nobodies. "Guys, can we be serious for one second, _please_? This is bad, _very_ bad." Demyx looked around, cringing a little. _"Yeah…" _Axel opened his mouth, looking like he was going to say more, whensuddenly a portal opened in front of him. A hooded figure walked in, grabbed Axel, who protested loudly, and hauled him back into the portal. "What the hell is your problem, dude? I have workers' rights, you know!"

The hooded figure laughed a little. "You betrayed us. You're not a worker anymore."

"Where are you taking him?" Sam shouted.

"The boss wants to question you. _All_ of you. And he is lucky number one."

"Well it's a step up from number _eight_." Axel grumbled as he was enveloped in the portal. A second later they were gone.

"Shit!" Sam cursed, rolling off her knees and leaning her back against the wall. For a while there was silence, the three only briefly glancing at one another. Finally, MarXno spoke. "Do you think they're going to kill him? What if he doesn't come back?" As if on queue, a portal opened and a person was tossed in. MarXno and Demyx sat straight up (Demyx quickly losing his balance and falling over). "Is it him?" Sam leaned forward. Brown spikey hair, no Organization coat… "No." The other two flinched away from the new prisoner at the word.

"Well then who the hell could this be?" MarXno snapped, her mood turned upside down with disappointment. Demyx leaned in closer, trying to get a better look. Crawling over to him, Sam sat down on her knees beside him. "Hello? Are you alright?" At first there was no response. Sam and MarXno shared an uneasy glance. The boy suddenly moaned, making Demyx jump—MarXno rolled her eyes. "Hey," Sam said, unsure of what else to do—it's not like she could help him up when her hands were tied. The boy groaned and picked himself up, balancing for a moment on all fours before sitting up. Seeing his face, MarXno and Demyx fell backwards in shock, scooting away as quickly as they could. Sam, on the other hand, felt her mouth drop open. She was pretty sure her eyes were as big as dinner plates. "It's… it's you." She managed to whisper. The boy turned to look at her.

* * *

"So why did you rescue us?"

Cloud sat on a kitchen chair in Leon's house, watching Riku pace back and forth before him. Leon lay on the couch, awake but still too hurt to do much more—it appeared that Larxene's electricity had a paralyzing affect. They'd put Aerith and Yuffie upstairs, the two were still unconscious. Riku suddenly turned to Cloud, frowning.

"What, you think I was just going to watch while that bitch tortured you? Besides, I need your help."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"They took Sora with them—they've found him. When he collapsed, I tried to revive him, but then I saw the Organization and tried to hide, but I didn't realize that there were an additional three hiding in where I couldn't see—their backup. They hit me with something hard and knocked me out, and when I woke up Sora was gone! We have to get him back, or else-"

"-Slow down!" Cloud said—the kid had been talking faster than Yuffie when she was high on caffeine.

Riku sighed and stopped pacing, turning to look Cloud in the face. "You're friends are being held prisoner-"

"-They're not our friends-"

"-In the Castle That Never Was. So is Sora. If we help each other, then I'm sure we could rescue them, and maybe take out a few members to boot."

Cloud was silent for a moment. Riku held out his hand. After a brief pause, Cloud sighed and took it. "Deal, but we have to wait until everyone's healed."

Riku frowned, looking like he was going to argue, but then caught himself. "Fine."

* * *

"You're Sora…" Sam said, looking down in wonder. Sora cocked his head to the side, confused. "Uh yeah… why? Who are you?" He looked around the room, his eyes growing with alarm. "Organization members!" He yelled, flipping backwards. "Oh sure, they don't tie his hands!" MarXno grumbled. Sora held out his hand for his keyblade, but nothing happened. "Huh?"

"This room prevents any weapons from being summoned, kid." MarXno said, rolling her eyes. Sora gritted his teeth and pointed at her and Demyx. "Why are _you_ guys in here? What, did you betray them?"

"_Yes_." MarXno said bluntly, catching Sora off guard.

"It's rude to point." Added Demyx, eyeing him wearily.

"Oh…" Lowering his hand, the keybearer looked around the room. He caught Sam's eye. "So then, who are you?" He asked.

"Sam, well, Samantha really, but just call me Sam. I… it's a long story." Sora scratched his head, looking around again. "Are we going anywhere anytime soon?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "No… Okay… A few days ago, my friend Taz and I-"

Sora shot straight up. "-Taz! You know Taz?"

Sam's face contorted with surprise. "_You_ know Taz?"

Suddenly, MarXno gasped. A portal was forming in the middle of the room. Suddenly, Axel was thrust out of the darkness. He landed in a crumpled heap next to Sam, who leapt a little at the unexpected entrance of the pyro. Quickly Sam looked her friend up and down. His hands weren't bound, he had a black eye and his lip was bleeding, but other than that, it appeared that he was alright.

"Axel, are you ok?" Demyx gasped, crawling closer to his friend and helping him to sit up. The red head nodded. "Guys, we're getting out of this dump." Everyone drew closer.

"What? Axel what are you talking about." Axel glanced at MarXno. That guy who took me away, that was Xigbar. He's on our side, he said he was gonna help us escape!"

Demyx pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! Gooo Xiggy!"

"Wait a minute, how'd you get thos brusies, then?"

"Axel seemed to blush a little at Sam's question. "Uh… I got into a little fight with Zexion." MarXno snorted. "And he managed to jump up and hit your face _how_?"

Demyx was laughing in the background. "A "_little_" fight! HA! Was that a pun? Oh man… hahahahAHAHAHAHA!"  
"Will you guys shut _up_!" Axel growled, wiping the blood off of his lip annoyedly

"Hey it's a good question!" Sam said, giggeling.

"He's like four freakin feet high, dude!" MarXno sniggered

Axel frowned. "There's one more thing, though. Roxas… they have him somewhere hidden in the castle. Xiggy's trying to find him, but so far no luck. They're saying that they've caught Sora, which we all know is impossible." Axel rolled his eyes and snorted. "We can't even order the correct thing from Burger Heaven without screwing up!" There was a pointed cough from behind the pyro. Axel turned around.

"So I'm guessing that you guys are getting better at ordering from Burger Heaven."

"Holy_ chakrams_! It's **Sora**! We caught- I mean _they_ caught—_Whoa_…"

Axel suddenly collapsed on the ground. Sam glanced at MarXno. "Did he just faint?"

"I think so…"

Sora shook his head. "_Wow_… Hey guys, who's Roxas?"

"_Uh_…. He's… nobody…"

Demyx cracked up. "_Another_ pun? He's "Nobody"! Bwahaha! You guys are good!"

MarXno growled and aimed a kick at Demyx's stomach. It hit its mark, causing Demyx to fall over and start coughing, gasping for air.

"You're such an idiot!"

* * *

Cloud held his sword out in front of him, unsure what was out there. The World that Never Was creeped him out, especially the town. Riku walked by him, wearing an Organization coat. "Come, on this way." Cloud glanced at Leon before following. It was only him, Leon, and Riku who were part of the rescue misson—Yuffie and Aerith had been deemed to injured to come, though they both put up a scary good fight… Cloud absently rubbed a huge bruise on his shoulder—Aerith might be scarier than Tifa…

Riku had gotten them there by summoning a black portal, just like the Organization members did. It confused Cloud, and made him edgy. What if Riku was really on the Organization's side? _But then why would he save us? _The other thing that worried him was how that boy—the incarnation—had just disappeared. He'd told the others about it, but they didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal. 'Good riddance." Leon had grumbled as he put an icepack to his head.

Suddenly, the castle came into view. "Whoa…" Leon said, stopping in his tracks. Around the castle floated a huge dragon, its head swiveling—it was on watch duty. Riku and Cloud frowned. "Xemnas must have summoned it…" Riku muttered, scratching his neck. He'd tied a black blindfold over his eyes, but it appeared as if he could still maneuver fine… Turning to the others, Riku pointed at the castle. "Alright, you guys, here's the plan. You Cloud, and you, Leon. Do you think one of you could distract the dragon?" Cloud and Leon looked at each other.

"I'll do it." Cloud sighed. Leon frowned.

"Are you sure?"

Cloud shrugged. "If I can beat Sephiroth shitless, then I think I can beat a dragon shitless too." Riku and Leon blinked.

"Well alright then." Leon said, turning to Riku. "So that leaves me with…?"

"You and I will infiltrate. I will go as an imposter and you… I hope you're good at sneaking around." Leon gave him a thumbs up. "Good, 'cause you're going to be trying to find Sora... or Roxas."

"Wouldn't Roxas be with the others?" Cloud asked. Riku shook his head.

"They wouldn't put Roxas and Sora together, so it's either Roxas or Sora who's being held in a different place."

"O_kay_…. "

Straightening, Riku stared hard at the castle—the prison where his best friend was being held. "Let's go, guys."

"Right!"

* * *

"Let's go, guys! Hurry!"

"_Xigbar_!"

"You came!"

"Of course I came!" Xigbar said, rolling his… _eye_… as he stepped out of the black portal. Walking over, he took out a knife, cutting everyone's bonds. They all stood up, rubbing their wrists and wincing. Axel grinned.

"I told you guys!"

"We never doubted you, dude." Demyx said, giving his friend a thumbs up.

"Oh sure…" Axel muttered, rolling his eyes.

Quickly the friends hurried into the portal. "Where are we going?" Sam asked, looking over at Xigbar, who was leaning against a wall, looking bored.

"Huh? Oh, it's a surprise."

"Which means he has no idea." MarXno grumbled, pushing Demyx—who was taking forever—through the portal roughly.

"_Whoa_!"

Rolling her eyes, Marxno sighed and followed the mullet-head. Only Sora stayed back. "Are you coming or what?" Xigbar grumbled, walking over to stand beside the portal. Sora shook his head.

"Yeah right, like I'd ever go into one of those things with five Organization members!"

Sam coughed. "Um, I'm not actually a member…"

Sora turned to stare at her, his eyes uncertain. Sam held out her hand. "Aw come on Sora, we won't do anything to you—it's the other Organization members you've got to watch out for!" Sora looked down, uncertainty masking his features. Finally—

"Fine."

Suddenly, another portal began to form. Sam grabbed Sora's hand. "Move!" Xigbar shouted, waiting until the two had dove into the portal before he slipped in. It closed quickly behind the escapees.

* * *

Riku stepped through the portal, the darkness seeping through his body. The blindfold around his eyes was doing its job. He was in the dungeon now, he was sure of it. It had been easy sneaking into the castle—the Organization was so stupid… Removing the cloth around his eyes, Riku blinked. There was no one there… Walking quickly over to the corner of the room, Riku bent to pick up a necklace—it belonged to Sora. But where had they gone?

**

* * *

**

Alright! I know how long it's been! I'm sorry! I didn't realize my summer would be so busy! But, here I am, and here is the next chapter! I wrote it all during Writers Workshop, talk about using your time wisely ^^ (ok, not as funny as it was in my head…). I hope you guys enjoy it! If you have any suggestions, feel free to msg me, people! And please, take the time to comment! I love heyersaring what you guys have to say! Well, I'll try to keep these coming out quickly (but no promises! XD). C-ya!

**~MarXno**

**Cloud – if I counted the number of times people got hurt in this story—**

**Axel – Forget counting! If I had a dollar for every time someone got hurt in this story, I'd be rich! =D**

**Sam – …No … not really, Axel. You'd only have like $20. **

**Axel – …Exactly! Like I said, I'd be rich!**

**Sam – *Slaps forehead in exasperation* How much does the Organization pay you?**

**Axel – …Um, nothing! We're on the run, **_**remember**_**?**

**Sam – O**_**kay**_**, how much **_**did**_** they pay you?**

**Demyx – Five dollars, four cents, and two packs of stride layers!**

**Sam – Five bucks a **_**month**_**?**

**Axel – What? That's ridiculous! **

**Sam – Thank you!**

**Axel – Why don't **_**I **_**get paid in layers?**

**Sam – ….. *Shakes head and walks away***

**Cloud – I agree with Samantha. *Walks off* You two are idiots.**

**Demyx – Samantha?**

**Axel - *Hands on hips, glares at Cloud* Um, **_**excuse**_** you! You weren't even in the convo!**

**Demyx – Convo…?**

**Axel – Conversa— Wow, you really are an idiot!**

**Demyx – *Whimpers***

**Axel – Aww Demyx, I didn't mean to make you cry. C'mon man, I'm sorry!**

**Demyx - *Whimpers even more***

**Axel – Okay **_**seriously**_** you little wimp, I said I was sorry!**

**Demyx – I'm touched and all but… *raises hand slowly and points at something behind Axel*…RUNNNNN!**

**Axel – *Whips around to find Cloud with his buster sword* OH (O_o)…**

**Cloud – Am I in the convo **_**now**_**?**

**Axel – *Assumes a thoughtful expression* Um, lemme' think about thi—No! *sprints off***

**Cloud – WAAAAAAAH! *Chases Axel around the stage***

**Leon - *Walks onto stage, takes in scene, then turns around and walks away, shaking his head.* I'm going on my break.**

**Axel – *Dodging Cloud* Isn't that Zack's sword? Dude, you're supposed to be protecting his honor!**

**Cloud – Well his honor's gonna whoop your ass! *lunges at Axel***

**Zack – *Walks onto stage holding two mocha lattes* Cloud, I got you a— *drops drinks when he sees what's happening* I LET YOU BORROW IT FOR FIVE MINUTES! NO HONOR AT ALL!**

**Cloud - *Freezes in midair* Shit…**

**Axel – Sweet victory!**

**MarXno – *Walks across stage, dumping a bucket of ice cold water onto the pyro* Heh, for **_**now**_**. **


	10. Wandering

Wandering

Roxas moaned, his eyes flickering open as he awoke for the seventh time that day… or night… Actually, he had no idea what time it was, or how long he'd been held captive. He did know, however, that his wrists were tied behind his back, and his legs were tied to the chair he'd awoken to find himself in. Roxas looked around the room—it was bare and extremely plain. White walls, white tile floor, white ceiling, a black portal… Sitting up straighter in the chair, Roxas fixed a glare on his face as Xemnas—ah yes, "Mansex" himself—walked through the dark portal. Roxas's eyes lingered for only a moment on the Superior, flicking towards the portal as another person immerged from its shadows. Long blue hair, an 'X' shaped scar across his forehead… _Saix_. What a surprise. He would be the one to come out of a portal with Xemnas. Despite the situation that he was in, Roxas couldn't help but roll his eyes. This was just more proof that those two had a thing for one another. _Wait until I tell Axel about this… _Roxas's thoughts trailed off as the realization hit him. Where was Axel? Where was Demyx? Where were Sam and MarXno and everyone else? And were they okay? Question after question flitted through the keybearer's mind, causing him to absently struggle with his bonds.

"And how is our little traitor doing?"

Roxas flinched at Xemnas's voice—he'd always hated it. It was too deep and _weird_… Xemnas was staring straight at him, his gaze unrelenting. Not feeling very intimidated, Roxas returned Mansex's glare, raising an eyebrow in response to the Superior's question. "I'm fine—feel it a little unnecessary to keep me tied to a _chair_… but overall I'm just peachy."

Xemnas raised an eyebrow. "Good…" He said, staring at something behind Roxas. Struggling to turn around in his chair, to see what was behind him, Roxas gasped in surprise and pain when someone grabbed his hair, yanking his head back so that his neck was exposed. Looking up, Roxas met the stone cold eyes of Saix, who quickly redirected his attention to his Superior. "Roxas, do you know where your friends are?" Xemnas droned, beginning to pace back and forth slowly. Was that supposed to be a trick question? The last time Roxas remembered seeing his friends was when he'd fainted. After that, he'd woken up here. Roxas bit down on his tongue, refusing to answer. Apparently, Xemnas didn't need one. "They're down in the dungeons… Or at least, they were…"

_What? What was that supposed to mean? _"What did you do to them?"

Xemnas chuckled to himself, sauntering closer to Roxas. "Let's just say, Larxene and Marluxia went a little overboard…"

Roxas felt something in his heart—one of his new emotions from Sam, most likely. Disbelief, hatred, and this strange feeling that started in his gut and began to expand, threatening to engulf and drown him—fear. They weren't dead, they couldn't be! MarXno, Sam, Demyx, _Axel_… There was no way. Xemnas must have seen this in the keybearer's face, for he suddenly summoned something and held it up so that Roxas could see it—it was a chakram.

"No, Axel!—"

Xemnas ignored Roxas. "—There is, however, a way to bring them back… you just have to help us…"

_Yeah right! You think I'm going to believe you idiots? You can't even order the correct thing from the Burger Barn!_

"Before the traitors were eliminated, we couldn't help but notice that a few of them acted… strangely… Almost like they had hearts. Especially that new girl… Maxs was her name, wasn't it? Now if you could be so kind as to tell us how you traitors developed emotions…"

Roxas flinched slightly. If they figured out how to get hearts, if Kingdom Hearts was to be completed, it would mean disaster. "You can't bring them back! The hell I'll tell _you_ anything!" Roxas yelled, trying to wrench his hair free of Saix's grasp. The older Nobody gave a growl and jerked Roxas's head even farther back. Suddenly, something cold and sharp was touching his skin.

"Xemnas, shall I do it now?"

Xemnas shook his head. "Wait a moment." Taking a step closer to Roxas, Xemnas thrust his face at Roxas, so that they were only an inch apart. "You can play nice and cooperate, or you try and be stubborn and suffer. Either way, we'll get the answer out of you." Xemnas straightened. "Anyways, I have my theories. I believe that you were given these emotions, and not only emotions, but hearts as well. And whoever this person is, who can distribute their heart amongst Nobodies… They will be the answer to our problems."

Roxas tried to turn his head, tried to see what Saix was pressing up against his neck, but when he moved Saix gripped his hair harder, causing him to gasp softly to himself. "You see this?" Xemnas asked, walking over and taking whatever the thing was that had been against his neck. Roxas struggled to see what Xemnas was holding up, but Saix barley relinquished his grip. Xemnas took a step closer, and as he did so the object he was holding came into view. It was an injection needle, full of a dark purple liquid. Roxas felt his heart drop and clenched his teeth. There was no way he was going to say anything—he would not betray his friends. Xemnas resumed his pacing, returning the needle to Saix, who refused to release his grip on Roxas's hair. Roxas tried not to shudder as again the needle was pressed against his neck.

"The substance in this needle was created by Vexen—" Despite his situation, Roxas sighed_. Oh _man_…_. "—a few weeks ago." Xemnas explained.

Roxas let out a small yelp as the needle was violently plunged into his neck.

"It was originally intended for that imposter who chooses to dress like us… But…"

Saix suddenly pushed the plunger, injecting the liquid into Roxas's veins, causing him to grunt in pain.

"…Considering that we've yet to capture the bastard, I've decided to test it out on you, instead."

Saix suddenly released Roxas's hair, and the keybearer's head fell all the way back so that he was staring up at the ceiling. He sucked in a shaky breath, his vision slightly blurred. "Aah!" He gasped, wrists straining slightly against their bonds. It was as if his whole body was shutting down, and all Roxas could do was breathe, though even that was getting slower and slower. Unable to move now, Roxas was forced to watch the ceiling as he heard Saix summon a portal, leaving quickly. Xemnas, however, circled around the chair, coming to a stop in front of the keybearer.

"I'll let you figure out for yourself what Vexen's potion does." The Superior smirked. "Maybe then your tongue will be loose enough to tell us what we need to know. Until then…" Xemnas swept away, heading around the chair and into the portal. Roxas longed to say something—a sharp retaliation, anything. However, he couldn't speak, couldn't even blink. And so he just stared at the cavernous ceiling above, unblinking, as his vision continued to fade. Xemnas's portal shut with a snap, but Roxas barley heard it—there was a buzzing in his ears. _Ok, keep cool. I don't know what's gonna happen, anything's possible with Vexen… Just gotta keep calm… Jeez I freaking hate that guy! _He sat like that for what seemed like forever, bonds cutting painfully into his skin. _This isn't good… but it's not horrible either…_ Roxas thought, confused. What was up? Was this all Vexen's potion did? Paralyzed you? How stupid…

It all happened at once. As if in answer to Roxas's thoughts, it came—the real affects. Roxas found that he could move again. Everything was blindingly clear. His vision snapped back, as did his hearing and voice. For a second Roxas was fine, and he picked his head up, shaking his hair out and sighing. And then it came— the blinding pain. It felt as if his whole body were on fire, inside and out. This was beyond agony. Gritting his teeth, Roxas flung his head back, tears forming in his closed eyes. There was no way out, no way around the pain. It came at him from every angle—snapping, biting, attacking, and leaving him singed. The fire in his veins was unlike anything he'd ever felt. And then it suddenly increased. Roxas cried out, his voice full of pain. A tear splattered the floor.

"Hey, where are we?"

"Does is really matter, MarXno?"

"Um, _yeah_—it's pitch black in here!—Owwa! _Demyx_ that's my foot!"

"That wasn't me!"  
"Sorry MarX…"

"Wha-? Axel! You idiot!"

"This way dudes!"

"Xigbar, I'm a _girl_! And so is MarXno!"

"Uh, right… This way dudes _and_ dudettes!"

"You Organization people are bizarre…"

"SHUT UP, SORA!"

"…_damn_…"

After Xigbar had rescued everyone from The Castle that Never Was (which Demyx and Sam had nicknamed "The Castle of Fails", such as The Bottomless Trashcan of Doom, or The Room of Despair [aka the bathroom], or Sam's personal favorite, No Man's Land (Larxene's room… -_- ) they had been transported to… _well_, no one really knew. As Sam felt around in the darkness, trying to find her iPod—which was in one of her jean pockets—everyone else began to panic…

"Oh my God, what if we never get out of here? What if we have to live here for the rest of our lives and we never save Roxas and there's no hotdogs here and what will we do if it rains 'cause then my clothes will get all wet and I hate being wet and then I'll have to restyle my hair and I don't know what we'll do 'cause first of all we can't even see 'cause it's pitch black in here—wherever here is—and we're on the run and the Organization thinks we're traitors which we _are_ and _OMG_ what are they gonna do to my stuff back in my room that's not good what if they burn it 'cause they know I HATE fire and you know what I just realized it doesn't really matter if it rains 'cause my element is water but still that sucks for you guys and OH MY _GOD_ who is touching my arm oh it's you Sam… I WANT A CORNDOG! This is so unfair I can't believe this is happening! What the fu—"

"That's Demyx talking, isn't it?" MarXno grumbled from where she stood to the right of the group. "Jeez motermouth, _breath_!"

Next to her, Sora began to laugh.

"Hey, what's so funny, kid?"

Still laughing, Sora took a step away from the direction of MarXno's angry voice. "So much for being super cool bad guys! And here I thought you were all badass! –Oof!"

MarXno marched away, cracking her knuckles and grumbling to herself something about how _someone_ was an ignorant f**ktard. Demyx glanced down at his feet as a low moan sounded. "Uh…Xigbar? What the hell is next to me?"

"Yeah, 'cause I'd know." Xigbar said sarcastically.

"It's me…" Sora mumbled, holding his stomach, where MarXno had violently jammed her elbow.

Turning around, Demyx held his head in his hands. "Holy _shit_, he even _acts_ like Roxas!" At the mentioning of his friends name, Demyx suddenly sank down and sat on the ground. What were they doing to him? Was he alright? Sam, who was still trying to find her iPod, suddenly sensed as someone walked past.

"Who is that?"

Sam barley heard the reply. "It's me."

"Axel?" When he didn't answer, Sam resumed her searching, double time. Finally, pulling the device out of her shoe, she turned it on and shone it around. "Axel!" She whispered, starting forward in the direction that she'd last heard his voice. Up ahead, she could see spikey, red hair just disappearing into the darkness. "Hey, where are you going? _Ax_!"

"Hey, everyone stick together!" Xigbar yelled, his voice sounding distant as Sam ran after her friend.

Sam barley took in what she saw as she ran—emptiness around her, emptiness below her, literally. She wasn't standing on anything. Finally, she reached Axel, who didn't even bother to stop or turn his head. Slowing to a walk, Sam stared up at him. "Hey, what's up?"

"Are you seriously asking that question?"

"What do you…" And that's when it hit her. Roxas, he was still being held captive. _Oh shit, this is not good. No Roxas, no Sora being whole… No _Roxas_! _Grabbing Axel's arm, Sam stopped, holding her ground and making the older Nobody turn around so that he could face her. "Hey." She said softly, trying to catch a hint of some emotion in Axel's face. If she'd given him part of her heart, it didn't show. Axel's face was stone cold, his eyes looking above her head at something in the distance (what though, Sam had no idea, since everything around them was pitch black).

"Just lemme' be for a bit, okay?" Axel pulled his arm from Sam's grasp, turned, and disappeared into the darkness. Sam sighed and sank to the ground. This was not good. How could all of this have happened? _Taz_. She was so close to getting him back! And then he disappeared! He… he… What was he? _Taz, what's happened to you?_

Suddenly, there was a cry from the direction Sam had just come from. Leaping to her feet, Sam began to sprint, iPod's light held out in front of her. The scream had been a girl's (or Demyx's…), so that could only mean that it was MarXno who was in trouble (or… _Demyx_…). There was a noise up ahead, and suddenly Sam ran smack into Demyx. Reeling backwards, Sam fell flat on her back, the wind knocking out of her.

"Sam! Are you okay?"

Sitting up, Sam shook her head and held her iPod up, shining the light on a very worried looking Demyx. "Yeah. Tell me you didn't even fall down!"

Demyx smiled. "Eh… More like stumbled backwards for a bit… So, why'd you scream?"

Sam started. "I—I thought it was you!"

"_What_?"

"So then it was MarXno! C'mon!" Regaining her feet, Sam sprang forward, grabbing Demyx's hand and dragging him after her. "MarXno! _MarX_!" Sam yelled, her iPod turning this way and that as she searched desperately in the darkness.

"I'm here!"

"Hold on, we're coming!" Together, you and Demyx hurried in the direction that MarXno's voice had come from. They found her quicker than Sam had expected. She was standing with her spear drawn—_uh oh, that means that whatever she's found can't be good_… "MarXno, what's wrong?"

The blue haired Nobody barley turned around. Instead, she nodded her head forward. "I—I tried to write something in my book, something to give me some light. It didn't work though, nothing I write in it works! And just now I—I bumped into something and it scared me." She said, sounding ashamed. "Be careful. I don't really know what it is."

Creeping forward slowly, Sam and Demyx took a cautious step around MarXno, Sam hesitantly shining her light ahead of her. "Oh, my God."  
"Sam…" Demyx whispered. "It's a…"

"Yeah, I know. It's a Keyblade."

MarXno had come forward now, peering over Sam's shoulder inquisitively. "Wait a minute, it's shining… It's a portal! I remember Luxord pointing one out to me while we were on a mission together. "If it shines and is transparent, than it's a portal!"" MarXno cried, imitating Luxord's accent. "We're getting out of here!"

Demyx glanced at MarXno. "Hey MarX?"

"Yeah?"  
"…You're accent sucks. –OWWW!" Demyx doubled over, clutching his stomach "You didn't have to _kick_ me!"

Sam had taken a step closer, in the mean time, and was inspecting the blade. "Hey, I recognize this Keyblade…"

Demyx had by this time picked himself off the ground and now stood beside Sam, studying the weapon.

"You do, Sam?" MarXno asked.

"Hey wait," Demyx said, "I remember this Keyblade too! That freaky guy we saw before we were captured… He was carrying it. Or at least, he was carrying two different ones… But this one looks like a weird mix of the two."

Sam's gaze locked onto the blade. It was true. A black wing instead of the actual teeth… a bone handle.

"_Taz_."

Roxas sat, head slumped forward, eyes barley open. He'd long ago lost his voice, long ago become too weak to fight the pain the still coursed through him. Every now and then he would stir slightly, but otherwise he was still. He'd been enduring this for hours— that much Roxas was sure of. Vexen's potion had let up only in the slightest, but still, it was unbearable. His wrists, which hung limply behind him, had gone numb long ago. One of the side effects that he'd learned very quickly about Vexen's potion was that it made you unable to lose consciousness. Suddenly, Roxas sat up, throwing his head back a little as a lance of pain stabbed through him. That was it, he'd had enough. Determined, Roxas managed to find his voice.

"I'm not going to talk! Do you _hear_ me? You can just kill me!"

He wasn't even sure if any of the Organization members could hear him, let alone Xemnas. A portal opened up suddenly a few yards away from Roxas, though the Nobody did not stir. So they had heard him after all—good, he wanted to get it all over with as quickly as possible.

"Finally, I've found you!"

_Found_ him? Who'd found him? Roxas longed to look, but he had no strength left to do so.

Riku removed his blindfold, blinking so his eyes became accustomed to the light. Strangely, he could not use his blindfold in this room—in other words, if he kept it on, he would be completely blind. He could do nothing, his sense of direction was mixed up—Xemnas must have place Roxas in here knowing this. Riku was truly blind with the blindfold while in this room—he could not wear it to do anything but summon portals… It had taken him hours to find the room where they were holding either Roxas or Sora captive, though he'd suspected the former, considering that he'd already found Sora's necklace in the dungeons. And now, as he took in the sight before him, he confirmed what he'd known all along. It was Roxas, and whatever they'd done to him, it didn't look good. The Nobody sat slumped in his chair, obviously still conscious, but just holding on. Riku walked forward slowly, inspecting the boy. Every few seconds or so, he would shiver or grimace in pain. Suddenly, he let out an agonized cry, his teeth gritted. Instinctively, Riku moved forward, alarmed. Roxas resembled Sora incredibly, though this he'd already known, considering the two of them were Nobodies. However, he'd never quite realized how similar the two were. The pained look on Roxas's face caused Riku's stomach to flip, for in Roxas's face he saw Sora.

Moving forward and summoning his keyblade, Riku quickly cut Roxas's bonds. Instantly the Nobody slumped forward, coming within an inch of the ground before Riku caught Roxas and slung him over his shoulder. "Let's get you out of here." Reaching for his blindfold, Riku got ahold of it right when the portals appeared. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, _nine_. Nine portals, forming a circle around Riku and Roxas. Suddenly, out of one closer to Riku stepped Larxene, then Marluxia. Soon, the whole Organization (or what was left, at least…) was surrounding the two keybearers. Backing up a set, Riku set Roxas down behind him, summoning his keyblade once more. Quickly he began to tie on his blindfold—the only chance they had of escaping was if he could summon a portal.

"Stop him!" Someone shouted—it was Xemnas, judging by the voice. A sudden wind swept past Riku, yanking the blindfold out of his hands and into Xaldin's. The Nobody smirked. "Remember me?"

_Shit, this is not good_. Riku thought, turning to face the Nobodies behind him. He found Xemnas, who stepped forward, arms raised. "Finally, we've caught you. How dare you don the coat of Organization 13, _imposter_." While the leader was talking, Riku began to edge closer to Xaldin, who still held his blindfold. This was gonna get interesting. Quick as a flash he was over to Xaldin. Raising his keyblade, Riku brought it down on the Nobodies head with a resounding crack. Yanking the blindfold free of Xaldin's grip, Riku turned eyes locking onto Roxas's limp form a few yards away, and set off at a dead sprint.

"Don't just watch you fools! Capture him!"

The first thing Riku dodged was a scythe, thrown at him by Marluxia. Rolling to the left, he quickly regained his feet just in time to be hit in the back by a chunk of ice. Wincing, Riku sprang forward, bringing the blindfold up to his eyes. He felt the electricity begin to gather around him, and dove as the blast hit the spot where he'd been only moments before. Saix suddenly came at him, eager to please the Superior, Riku guessed, and swung at him. Blindfold now on, Riku had a little trouble dodging the attack. Summoning a portal, Riku ducked just in time to hear a light saber whizz past his head. Finally he reached Roxas. Grabbing the kid's shirt, Riku hauled him towards the portal, nearly getting pulverized by Lexaeus's ax-sword. _We're so close..._ Riku ducked as a chunk of ice zipped past his head. _**Thud**_. Letting out a gasp of pain, Riku fell backwards, hitting the ground hard. _**Thud**_. Another one. Gasping, Riku reached down and wrenched the first of Larxene's knives from his chest, throwing it far away. _**Thud**_. He winced as another knife hit its mark, digging deep into his shoulder. Yanking his blindfold off, Riku blinked in surprise as his vision blurred and began to fade. _Heh, why am I surprised? I should have known that bitch had another trick up her sleeve_. He thought bitterly, yanking out another knife. Of course Larxene would poison her knives, because nothing could just be freakin' simple! Riku flinched in surprise as another knife pierced his skin, though he barley felt it. Behind him, Riku heard his portal close with a snap. He tried to move and failed, finding that he was too quickly blacking out... _

Roxas moaned slightly, opening his eyes. Everything was blurry, everything hurt. Not wanting to move, he lay there, confused. What was different….? And then… The pain! It had ebbed away, and was now only a dull burn in the back of his mind. Roxas twitched his hand, his arm… He could move? He wasn't tied up? _What's_ _going on? _Suddenly there a portal opened up next to him. But… who had summoned it. It was then that Roxas realized the battle that was taking place around him. The Organization surrounding him at first made the young Nobody panic—what were they going to do to him now? But then he saw a flash of silver hair, a boy dodging the Organization's attacks, and quickly he understood. He was being rescued—though he had no idea who this guy was, or what he would do with him. Roxas winced as a lance of pain, though much smaller than the ones previous, stabbed at him, and briefly he shut his eyes. He was still badly hurt, and he knew it. Suddenly he was grabbed and hauled forward by his rescuer, to the portal. _**Thud**_. Roxas's eyes snapped open as the boy dropped him, he knew that sound. _**Thud**_. A gasp of pain. A portal snapping shut. Roxas felt something in his chest drop, and winced at the emotion. His rescuer at been hit by Larxene's knives… her _poisoness_ knives. _Now_ what would become of them? Larxene's poison—made special for her by Vexen (who was too afraid to tell her that he was tired of making things for her ugliness… -_-)—was incredibly lethal, and usually had the victim knocked out within a minute. Roxas shut his eyes; couldn't he just get cut a break already? _**Snap! **__What?_ Roxas's eyes opened into slit, flicking towards the sound. It was a portal. "Get in!" Someone whispered. Around him, the Organization was closing in.

"Whose portal is that?" Xemnas snapped, aiming one of his lightsabers at the black mass.

"Well it's not _his_, that's for sure!" Larxene cackled, throwing another of her knives at an unconscious Riku.

"Let's get this over with," Vexen grumbled, "I need to get back to my lab…"

"Hey!" Roxas flinched slightly as the voice whispered out of the portal again—it was a girl's voice. "What are you, an _idiot_? Get in! Or do you wanna stay here with _these_ lovelies?"

The only problem was, Roxas wasn't sure if he could move, let alone grab an unconscious guy and fling them both into a portal with eight deadly Organization members surrounding them… and Zexion with his book… Another spike of pain flashed through him caused Roxas to grimace. _The hell I'm going through _that_ again! _Summoning all his strength, Roxas snapped open his eyes. Quick as a flash the keybearer was up and hauling the boy into the portal, much to the bewilderment of the Organization. "He shouldn't even be standing!" Saix cried, and with that he threw his claymore at Roxas. Larxene, thoroughly enjoying herself now, whipped her knives at Roxas as well.

With a final heave Roxas fell backward with the boy into darkness, which quickly enveloped them. The last thing he heard was Xemnas shouting "You _fools_!" which made him grin. What a _fruit_… Suddenly the blackness receded, causing Roxas to blink in surprise. He was laying on grass, looking up at a blue sky… But where was he? Where were his friends? WHERE WAS AXEL!

"_Finally_! I didn't think you were going to make it!" Surprised, Roxas sat up quickly, causing the pain that had been burning dully within him to increase.

"Owowow!" He yelped, falling backwards. Gentle hands caught him before he hit the ground. Who was this girl who had saved them? "Who are you?" Roxas asked his voice hoarse.

"I'm… _well_... how should I put this…"

**Whew! *sweatdrop* So here it is, hope you enjoyed it! Oh, and happy [belated] holidays/New Year! Yeah, so I originally intended to get this out before Christmas break started, but… well, let's just say I forgot to upload it onto my USB thingy before I left school on the last day… (hey, I was distracted by all the festivities!). Anywho, I hope your vacations were amazing! I know mine was (I mean, any vacation is amazing when the learning process isn't involved!)! I finally got a bow (despite my complete lack of aim, I am pretty good at archery ^^), which has me pumped! Oh, and my computer is fixed, yaaay! Now I can write these things and get them out quicker to you! Oh, and please don't forget to review! It's the prefect fuel for me! Alrighty guys, until next time! Peace!**

**~MarXno**

**Roxas – You better pay me extra for this *points upward angrily***

**Demyx – It's rude to point, dude**

**Roxas – DON'T YOU GO ALL "MOMMY" ON ME! I'VE BEEN THROUGH **_**HELL**_**!**

**Me – **_**Roxas**_**? You okay? *gulps***

**Roxas - …Omg… Did you really just ask—?... NO! **_**NOOOO**_** I AM **_**NOT**_** OKAY! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME? { *summons keyblades***

**Me – Demyx, go get Axel!**

**Demyx – *Glances in fear at Roxas, who is wrecking the stage/props with his keyblades* Gotcha!**

**Roxas - *Turns upon hearing Demyx's voice* I'm gonna **_**KILL**_** you!**

**Demyx – RUN RUN AWAAAAAY!**

**Me - …**

***Demyx dives to the side to avoid running into Axel, who is coming to see what all the yelling is about. Roxas then crashes into him***

**Axel – Rox?**

**Roxas – Ax?**

***One word, Lemons.***

**Me – Oh God O_o**

**Demyx - *Looks up at Axel and Roxas and sees them kissing* What? What— WHAT **_**IS**_** THIS!**

**Riku - *Standing in shadows* Aww, everyone got their happy ending 3 Isn't that right Sora? *Puts arm around Sora***

**Sora – Uh—**

**Riku – Yeah, everyone is happy *hugs Sora closer***

**Sora – What is **_**going on**_**?**

**Vexen – **_**Oooh**_** Larxene! *pokes head in room***

**Larxene – **_**What**_**?**

**Vexen – I have a confession to make… I…**

**Larxene – Okay… Well spit it out!**

**Vexen – I LOVE YOU!**

**Larxene - *chokes and gags***

**Luxord – *Pokes head in room* I DO TOO!**

**Zexion – SO DO I!**

**Larxene – No! NO! NOO! Not the EMO!**

**Saix and Xemnas – WE DO TO!**

**Larxene - *dies***

**Marluxia – Think we should tell her she's dreaming? *glances at Larxene on couch***

**Vexen – Nahh, let's leave her for a little bit…**

**Larxene – NOOOOO! NOT MANSEX AND BUTT BUDDY TOO!**

**(FAIL.)**


End file.
